Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has revoked 165 land allocations, some of which belonged to prominent Nigerians.
Those affected include former governors, ex-ministers, former senators, and other categories of people and companies.
Some of those affected are Peter Obi, former Anambra State governor and candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election; former Cross River and Plateau governors respectively, Liyel Imoke and Joshua Dariye; former Senate Chief Whip, Udoma Udoma, first Minister of Niger Delta, Ufot Ekaette and late publisher of Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda-Isaiah.
Others include former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Kanu Agabi (SAN); and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the late Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye.
The revocation order issued through a public notice was published as an advertorial in Friday’s edition of The Nation.
The plots of land which were allocated by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in Abuja were revoked over contravention of relevant laws or the failure of the allottees to develop the land.
Affected companies include Wema Bank, Julius Berger and Trade Bank.
Shortly after his appointment as the FCT minister, Wike threatened to demolish houses built at the wrong locations in Abuja, even if the owners of such structures were ministers or ambassadors.
The former Rivers governor issued the threat during a press briefing held shortly after Wike and 44 others were sworn in as ministers in Abuja following their appointments by President Bola Tinubu.
According to Wike, houses built at illegal locations in Abuja to distort the city’s master plan will be demolished irrespective of the position of its owner.
Wike said, “All those people who are distorting the masterplan of Abuja, too bad. If you know you have built where you are not supposed to build, it will go down.
“Be you a minister of anywhere, be you an ambassador, if you know you have developed where you were not supposed to develop, your house must go down.
“Those who have taken over the green areas to build, sorry, our parks must come back. The green areas must come back. If you hate green, you must hate yourself,” Wike said.
A document signed by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Olushade Adeshola, revealed that the revocation was due to the violation and contravention of the terms of development of the Right of Occupancy.
The document reads, “The Federal Capital Territory Administration hereby informs the general public that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has in the exercise of the powers conferred on him under Section 28 (5) (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act, 1978, revoked the underlisted plots with names and titles as reflected in our records for continued contravention of the terms of development of the Right of Occupancy to wit non-development.”
The plots are spread across Abuja including choice areas like Asokoro and Maitama.
