I’ve saved N110bn for FCT since I became minister – Wike

Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), says he has saved N110 billion for the administration in three months.

He made this announcement during a high-level meeting with an estate developer in Abuja and expressed his dissatisfaction with the rate at which fake Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) were being issued.

During the meeting, Wike ordered that N5 million be paid to acquire a C of O.

He stated that he would seek the permission of President Bola Tinubu to add a National Identification Number (NIN) to any C of O that would be issued by his administration.

“I have saved N110 billion for FCTA since my assumption of office three months ago. Allocation of [one] land to three or more persons will no longer be allowed. C of O enables you to do business.”

“When we make the right decision, some people will be happy, and some will not. We are ready for such a fight.

“When I was governor of Rivers State, 3 C of Os were given by FCT on my land, and we later discovered that the C of Os given to us were fake after we had paid N57 million for the lands.

“I will seek the president’s permission to link any C of O to the NIN number. The rich men will kick against it, but anything that will help our people must be done.

“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, and now the 5 million looks big for them”, he said.

Wike emphasised that it will no longer be business as usual, where three or more people are allocated the same plot of land with a fake C of O.

He recounted his experience as the governor of Rivers State, where he was given a fake C of O by some officials of the FCTA. He also criticised the payment of N8.9 billion as a monthly salary for CTA and FCDA workers.

The developers at the meeting appealed to the Minister to reduce the N5 million payment required for the C of O.