Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike has said that for land to be allocated to any agency or institution, there must be an agreement with the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, through the Land Department, that the institution is ready to build within a specific time.
Wike stated this when he received a delegation from the University Basic Education Commission, UBEC, led by the Executive Secretary, Hamid Bobboyi, on a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja on Thursday.
He was responding to a request for land allocation by the Executive Secretary of UBEC to enable the commission to construct staff quarters in the FCT.
He frowned at a situation where institutions are allocated land without developing them, which he said was attracting shanties and criminals to the FCT.
He said institutions seeking land allocation in the FCT must agree to develop the land within a given timeframe and also demonstrate their financial capacity to carry out such developmental activities before allocations are made.
“What we have found out is that most institutions apply for land, you give them land, 20 years, 15 years, no development and then people go and build shanties, which of course attracts criminals to stay and then it becomes a problem to us,” Wike said.
“When you begin to go there and say they should move, then people will come to say ‘oh, people are suffering, the economy is very hard, it’s where they are trying to find what to eat.’ It becomes another problem for us.
“Now, for us to give land to any agency, you have to have an agreement with the FCTA through the Land Department that you are going to build within a specific time,” he said.
Wike added that the agreement would state clearly the commitment of the agency, and where the agency fails, FCTA would take back the land.
