FCT Minister Wike Recovers N1.9bn Debt From Abuja Landowners in Record Time

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has achieved remarkable results in his drive to recover ground rent from Abuja landowners who are in arrears.

According to the acting director of the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS), Isiaku Ndatsu Alfa, the FCTA has collected N1.9 billion in less than a month from defaulting property owners.

Newsflash Nigeria had reported that Wike had vowed to collect ground rent from landowners in Abuja who owed the FCTA about N34 billion.

The minister made this declaration on September 5, 2023, while receiving visitors from the ad hoc committee investigating the failure of the Abuja mass transportation scheme.

He said that ground rent was a tax charged by the FCTA on landed properties in the nation’s capital and that failure to pay it would result in revocation of property rights.

Alfa, who spoke to Leadership on September 17, 2023, said that the minister’s ultimatum had triggered a massive response from property owners who rushed to pay their debts before the deadline.

He revealed that the ground rent collection had increased significantly since Wike’s order.

He said: “After Wike’s order, ground rent earnings rose to N500 million and increased steadily to over N1 billion. By September 17, 2023, ground rents had generated precisely N1.9 billion, and the figure is estimated to double by the end of the month.”

Alfa commended Wike for his initiative and said that the FCTA was planning to introduce an online payment portal for the collection of ground rents, certificate of occupancy (C of O), and other transactions.

He said: “That is the way going forward, and very soon, we can launch that App into the Remita, so the app will have an interface with the Remita.

“This is the first time since the inception of the FCT that we have somebody at the helm of affairs, the FCT minister, who cares about the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

“If you do not have revenue or you have dwindling revenues, you might not be able to embark on some capital projects as it were, ever since the honourable minister came in his wisdom.

“I do not want to say he warned but he advised that all property owners within the FCT should make it a point of duty to meet up with their part of the obligations, as far as the ground rent payments are concerned.”

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