Officials from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) have sealed off Wadata Plaza, the building that houses the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, due to unpaid ground and tenancy rent.
The action affected other structures as well, including offices of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, disclosed on his Facebook page that the plaza owes N7,603,504.31 in ground rent accumulated over 28 years.
He wrote “On Wadata Plaza being used as PDP National Secretariat, N7,603,504.31 is being owed as 28 years’ Ground Rent.”
The sealing of the PDP secretariat forced the party to relocate its caucus meeting to a different venue.
The FCT administration also sealed other buildings on Monday, including a commercial bank complex, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and NAPTIP offices located in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.
At the FIRS premises, tensions flared between FCTA officials and the agency’s security guards and staff, who initially resisted the sealing.
Eventually, the FCTA officials were allowed access and proceeded with the closure.
Olayinka further revealed that FIRS has failed to pay ground rent for 25 years.
This enforcement comes months after the FCTA lamented losing over N6 billion in revenue due to non-compliance by property owners who have not paid ground rents for more than a decade.
In a statement last week, the FCTA—through Olayinka and the Director of the Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, announced the revocation of 4,794 properties over unpaid ground rent ranging from 10 to 43 years.
The statement read “Ownership of the revoked 4,794 properties in the Central Area, Garki I and II, Wuse I and II, Asokoro, Maitama and Guzape districts, had already reverted to the FCTA, and as from Monday, next week, the government will begin to exercise its rights of ownership on the affected landed properties.”
It added “As usual, this will be done without consideration as to ownership of the affected landed properties. It will be purely in line with extant laws and regulations guiding the process.”
According to the FCTA, these buildings now legally belong to the administration.
