River Park Estate: No amount of blackmail will save illegal structures – Wike

…orders issuance of new C-of‐Os to genuine homeowners

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has declared that no illegal constructions within River Park Estate will be spared, stressing that no amount of blackmail will stop the FCTA from pulling down structures erected in violation of the law.

Speaking during an inspection tour of the estate on Saturday, Wike said the administration will continue to demolish illegal developments while assuring genuine homeowners that new Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-Os) would be issued directly to them by the FCT Administration.

The Minister said many of the ongoing constructions were in breach of the original lease agreement, which had already expired, just as he explained that developments carried out under such circumstances were illegal and would not be allowed to stand.

The FCT Administration had ordered that all constructions in the estate be halted, and over 30 substructures at River Park Estate due to non-compliance with planning regulations demolished.

The developer was accused of proceeding with building despite their lease agreements being revoked due to its expiration by effluxion of time even as the ministerial committee recommended that undeveloped plots be returned to the FCTA.

The Barr. Salman Dako-led committee found the Development Lease Agreement (DLA) had expired and been breached, prompting the plot revocation in line with Clause 9.2 of the DLA.

Addressing journalists, Wike, said that it was discovered that the developer had entered into third-party arrangements outside the provisions of the lease, a clear violation of contract terms. He explained that Paulo Homes, had no legal dealings with the FCT.

He explained that any further development on the land without a valid agreement would be considered illegal.

“When I got a petition, I got a letter from the SNA National Committee, who invited me to one called Jonah Capital, which is a Canadian company. And that company had a lease agreement with the FCT.

“Another third party. They call Paulo homes have no business with FCT. Let it be on record. They have no business with FCT. Only the other companies that have a disagreement.

“Unfortunately, that lease agreement had expired by a effluxion of time. Apart from that, entering into an agreement with a third party is a contravention of one of the clauses of the lease agreement.”

“And what we agreed to do, in order not to make a lot of people, Nigerians, who may have either fraudulently obtained or built houses, we decided that we will give them back C of O to say that directly allocated by the FCT administration. And so this cry that, oh, they want to take their property, is neither there nor there. That is not the intention of the FCT administration.

“And when I said, I think the lease agreement had expired, no more developments. And what one of them did, Polio Home did, was overnight, because he started to do construction, in order to tie the hands of the administration, which of course, you know, will not succumb to such.”

Accordingly, the Minister immediately ordered the Department of Development Control to move in and demolish all illegal buildings within the estate. He warned that any further attempts to develop land without proper authorisation would be met with the same action.

Meanwhile, to protect residents who may have innocently acquired homes in the estate, Wike announced that new Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-Os) would be issued directly by the FCT Administration. This, he explained, was to ensure that genuine homeowners had legitimate titles without fear of losing their properties.

The Minister further reassured the public that the administration was not out to dispossess Nigerians of their investments but rather to regularise ownership and protect the rights of legitimate allottees. He emphasised that the process would provide clarity and prevent fraudulent allocations in the future.

He said that the residents who already possess allocations from developers without legal standing will be invited by the FCT Administration for a formal meeting. At the meeting, the administration will outline the steps for issuing fresh lease agreements and new C-of-Os.

Wike maintained that the government would not tolerate any attempts by private developers to undermine its authority or exploit unsuspecting Nigerians. He said those trying to blackmail the administration into reversing its stance were wasting their time.

“I appeal to those who do not understand, or who may not have known, not to be fooled. Anybody who is doing anything here now, is at his own risk. It will go down.

“No amount of blackmail will stop us. We are not saying that people should not make money. But do things in a way that is supposed to be done.”

He noted that the new measure was designed to ensure that order, accountability, and proper documentation were restored in land administration within the FCT.

The Minister however, assured residents that their investments were safe and that the administration’s actions were guided by a commitment to protect property rights while upholding the sanctity of the law.

“You’ve come here and you’ve seen by yourself. It’s a terrible thing. But all those who are here should be assured that nobody is going to collect their property. But we are going to issue them a lease agreement. All the C of O that was awarded by Paulo Homes, they’ve already provided it. And so we’ll issue them a new C of 0 4.

“By next week, we’re going to invite residents who own property here for a meeting so that we’ll tell them what we intend to do. So there’s no cause for alarm.” he said.