The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has issued a two-week ultimatum to 43 foreign embassies and high commissions in Abuja to pay up their outstanding ground rents for the year 2023 or risk losing their titles.
The FCTA published an advertorial on national dailies on Tuesday, listing the names and amounts owed by the defaulting embassies, which totalled $5,368,218 million.
The advertorial stated that the FCTA was acting in accordance with the covenanted terms of the Certificate of Occupancy, which required all allottees of land within the FCT to pay the annual ground rent in advance, without demand, to the Honourable Minister, FCT.
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The advertorial also advised all allottees, property owners and beneficiaries of the sale of federal government houses in the FCT who had not paid or settled their ground rents for 2023 to do so within the stipulated period.
Among the embassies and high commissions that owed the FCTA were the U.S. Embassy for Peace, the British High Commission, the South African High Commission, and the Zambia High Commission.
Others included Senegal, Algeria, Russia, Turkey, Spain, Korea, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Iraq, Eritrea, Belgium, Tunisia, Niger Republic, Angola, Thailand, Bulgaria, Germany, Venezuela, Cameroon, Japan, and Togo, among others.
The Indonesian embassy had the highest debt of over $2$2,003,376, while the French embassy had the lowest, $323.