Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike said he has saved N110 billion for the FCTA in just three months.
Wike disclosed this during a meeting with estate developers in Abuja.
He stated, “I have saved N110 billion for FCTA since my assumption of office three months ago.”
Drawing from his experience as the former governor of Rivers State, Wike noted the importance of Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) for landowners, recounting an incident where three fake C of Os were issued for his Abuja land.
He expressed determination to seek the President’s permission to link C of Os to the National Identification Number (NIN) to enhance authenticity.
The Minister stated, “Allocation of lands to three more persons will no longer be allowed. The C of O enables you to do business. When we take the right decision, some people will be happy, some will not. We are ready for such a fight.
“When I was governor of Rivers State, three C of Os were given by the FCTA on my land and we later discovered that the C of Os given to us were fake, after we has paid N57 million for the lands.
“I will seek Mr. President’s permission to link any C of O to NIN. The rich men will kick against it, but anything that will help our people must be done,” he added.
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“Support this move. You will attest to the fact that there are changes. How will you feel that, at the end of the day you have a C of O but it is fake? Over the past 10 years, some people have not paid now; the N5 million looks big to them.
Additionally, he emphasized his commitment to providing infrastructure before allocating land and revealed the staggering monthly salary of FCTA workers at N8.9 billion.
“I won’t allocate land without providing infrastructure,” Wike revealed.
“Do you know that FCTA workers salary is N8.9 billion monthly? I was shocked about this. The 2024 national budget of the FCT is N17 billion.
“We are trying to provide a city that we are to be proud of. We have considered that we will spread it by four months to pay the N5 million,” Wike concluded.
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