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The Federal Government has issued a stern warning to top government officials, agencies, and prominent commercial banks to settle outstanding ground rent payments or face the revocation of their land titles.
This warning extends to high-ranking functionaries, including President Bola Tinubu, Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), as well as state governments.
In a list published on Monday, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) named over 9,000 ground rent defaulters, urging them to clear their debts for 2023 within two weeks.
The FCTA cautioned that failure to pay within this timeframe would lead to the forfeiture of their land titles.
“The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) hereby wishes to remind the general public, particularly allotee(s)/title holder(s) of plot(s) of land within the Federal Capital Territory, of their obligations to the FCTA as stipulated in the covenanted terms of the Statutory Rights of Occupancy/Certificate of Occupancy to wit: “pay in advance without demand to the Federal Capital Territory Administration the annual ground rent from the first date of January of each year.
“All allottees/property owners, as well as beneficiaries of the sale of Federal Government Houses in the FCT who have not paid or settled their outstanding ground rent for the year 2023, are hereby advised in their interest to ensure payment within two (2) weeks from the date of this publication, failure of which such titles shall be revoked,” the publication reads.
Among some of the top officials mentioned in the publication were former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika; former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; former Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele; and former Federal Commissioner of Internal Affairs, Umaru Shinkafi.
Others were former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi; former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso; former Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda; and former Governor of Cross Rivers State, Donald Duke.
Among Ministries, Departments and Agencies owing ground rents were the Federal Housing Authority, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Federal Ministry of Commerce, Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Federal High Court, Abuja, Code of Conduct Bureau, and the state lodges of the governments of Imo, Lagos, Benue, Ondo, Oyo, Bauchi, Delta, Kaduna, and Kogi.
In November 2023, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, extended the deadline for payment of ground rents until December 2023, stating that if they didn’t pay up, “something will surely happen, contrary to the erroneous assumption that the ground rent directive was an empty threat,” following the expiration of the deadline earlier given to land allottees in September.
The FCT Director of Information, Muhammad Sule, who announced the extension of the deadline, said the minister had disclosed that the FCTA expected to rake in about N30bn from the payment of ground debts in the territory.
“In consideration of the sustained response from affected allottees and in order not to disenfranchise those who are still in queue for collection of ground rent bill and are eager to pay, the minister of FCT has graciously approved that additional time be granted from the expiration of the final notice to 14th of December 2023.
“The administration is expecting over N30 billion from the grant rent payment,” the director said.
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