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FCTA Earmarks 500 Houses for Demolition
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on Wednesday announced plans to demolish about 500 illegal houses and structures in Dutsen-Garki, Apo District, Abuja.
Mr Mukhtar Galadima, Director, Department of Development Control, FCTA, disclosed this after a meeting with the leaders of the community in Abuja.
Galadima, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Monitoring and Enforcement, Mr Hassan Ogbole, explained that all houses and structures that were illegally acquired or built would be demolished.
He lamented that individuals acquire properties and lands from the natives and develop the lands without approval from the FCTA.
“This is unacceptable to the FCT Administration,” he said.
He explained that the meeting with the locals was in line with the reform agenda of the FCTA to consult the natives before any demolition exercise so as not to take the people by surprise.
He added that the meeting was to also intimate the leaders of the affected community and the public on the intended demolition exercise.
Galadima said that they have agreed with the community leaders to embark on marking of houses and structures, illegally built by non-indigenes in two weeks time.
This, he said, would be followed by the demolition exercise.
The director advised residents against contacting locals for land acquisition and urged anyone interested to acquire land to go to the constituted authority to avoid loss of properties.
He also advised the locals against selling off lands and properties to non-indigenes or expanding without approval from FCTA.
In his remarks, Mr Kak Bello, Deputy Director, Monitoring and Enforcement, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, pointed out that besides erecting illegal structures, people also build on water ways.
“This is not good for the environment. Building on flood plains and dumping of refuse on water ways contribute to the environmental problems being experienced in some parts of FCT.
“I urged people to be law-abiding and desist from building illegally and on flood plains,” he said.
On his part, one of the representatives of the community, Mr Danjuma Fanus, pledged the full cooperation of the community leaders for the success of the exercise.
Fanus, nonetheless, appealed to the FCTA to be considerate while carrying out the exercise so as not to make any of the natives a victim.
“We will cooperate with the authorities, but we also need your cooperation,” he said. (NAN)
The federal Government has given owners of its titled properties 60-day notice to pay their outstanding ground rent and other statutory charges or face revocation of their Certificate of Occupancy (C of O).
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, gave the ultimatum on Wednesday in Abuja, at the 29th Conference of Directors of Lands in the Federal and State Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
The theme of the conference is “Equitable Land Stewardship: Challenges of Land Administration and its Impact on Climate and Community Rights’’.
“The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is aware that several owners of its titled properties have failed to pay ground rent and other statutory charges to the Ministry for several years now.
“This non-compliance has resulted in the loss of trillions of Naira in revenue to the Federal Government.
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, this cannot be tolerated as this revenue is much needed to deliver the Renewed Hope Agenda to Nigerians.
“As such all Federal C of O title owners are hereby given a 60-day notice to settle all outstanding ground rent and statutory charges. Failure to make payment within this period will result in the revocation of their C of Os,’’ he said
According to the Minister, the Federal Government is in a state of emergency regarding land administration, economy, security, and social development.
Dangiwa said that the Ministry also observed activities of various residents associations in Federal Government landed properties preventing Ministry workers from accessing the estates for billing purposes and enforcement of non-payments.
“We want to warn such associations to comply with the terms and conditions outlined in their respective C of Os. Failure to adhere to these requirements will attract the appropriate penalties and sanctions,’’ he warned
The minister said that the ministry upscaled the Electronic Certificate of Occupancy (e-C of O) and Land Titling System for all federal government-owned lands in the 36 states of the country.
He explained that the e-C of O system incorporates a web-based Advanced Workflow System (WNABS) and an Electronic Documentation Management System (EDMS) to streamline the review, approval, and issuance of Certificates of Occupancy.
Dangiwa said that the new system had significantly reduced administrative bottlenecks and processing times for federal land applications.
He said that the innovative initiative has resulted in the digital approval of over 600 e C of O applications as of October 2024 with a target to clear the backlog before the end of December.
“This will be integrated within the larger framework of the national land titling program that we are implementing with the World Bank and other partners,’’ he said.
Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, Permanent Secretary in the ministry said land use decisions must prioritise sustainability to mitigate the impacts of climate change, protect biodiversity, and ensure that future generations have access to vital natural resources.
“Land is not only an economic asset but also a cultural and social resource that holds deep significance for communities.
“Across Africa, land tenure is closely tied to identity, heritage, and community cohesion.
“Unfortunately, in many cases, communities especially rural and indigenous ones, are displaced or marginalised due to inadequate or inequitable land management practices.’’
Ogunbiyi therefore, urged that in the pursuit of development, authorities should ensure that the rights of these communities were safeguarded.
He added that customary land rights should be recognised and the need for inclusion of local communities in land-use planning to promote fairness and avoid conflicts. (NAN)
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says the national grid has been restored after experiencing temporary disturbance at about 8:15 a. m. on Saturday.
Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN’S General Manager, Public Affairs said this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.
Mbah said that TCN engineers at Jebba successfully carried out switchings by isolating the faulty current transformer.
She said that the engineers had equally reconfigured the busbar arrangement, restoring power supply to the station, and other parts of the grid.
Mbah said that according to the report from the National Control Center (NCC), the bus section of a current transformer exploded at 330kV Jebba Transmission Sub-station
” As expected, the protection system was activated, and this promptly opened the busbars to curtail the explosion, thereby, preventing outbreak of fire and further damage to adjacent equipment.
”The action of the protection system led to a temporary disturbance on the grid, ” she said.(NAN)
The equity market extended its losses on Thursday as the market capitalisation dropped by N127 billion, or 0.21 per cent, from N59.559 trillion to close at N59.432 trillion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index declined by 0.21 per cent, losing 210.2 points to close at 98,081.38, compared to 98,291.
53 recorded on Wednesday.As a result, the year-to-date return decreased to 31.
17 per cent.Profit-taking in Aradel Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Oando, United Capital and UACN, among other declining stocks, drove the market into negative territory.
However, market breadth remained positive, with 29 gainers and 16 losers.
On the gainers’ table, Gold Breweries led by 10 per cent to close at N3.
74, Deap Capital Management and Trust Plc followed by 9.85 per cent to close at N1.45 per share.Transnational Power gained N29.20 per cent to close at N330.90, Jaiz Bank added 8.64 per cent to close at N2.39, while Transcorp Hotels rose by 7.78 per cent to close at N97 per share.
Conversely, Aradel led the losers’ table by 10 per cent to close at N694.80,while Regency Alliance Insurance trailed by 8.82 per cent to close at 62k per share.
Daar Communications also went down by 6.78 per cent to close at 55k, UACN dropped 6.70 per cent to close at N20.20, and Oando decreased by 5.82 per cent to close at N76 per share.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down 28.74 per cent.
A total of 239.31 million shares valued at N6.41 billion were exchanged in 7,318 deals, compared to 257.55 million shares valued at N9 billion traded by investors in 7,776 deals, recorded in the previous session.
Meanwhile, Sterling Nigeria led the activity table in volume with 42.79 million shares, while Aradel led in value with deals worth N1.04 billion.(NAN)
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