Abuja Estate Developers have faulted the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in the ways and manners over which over N200 billion houses were demolished on the purported revocation of their land.
The group accused the Minister of undermining the court and rule of law in the demolition exercise and called on President Bola Tinubu to call him to order.
Addressing a press conference on the issue on Friday in Abuja, counsel to the demolition victims, Kalu Agu, lamented that the pulling down of houses in the Sabon-Lugbe area of Abuja has rendered over 100 families homeless.
The lawyer insisted that the owners of the demolished houses were legally and lawfully allocated the land by the authorities of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and had their title documents intact.
Agu explained that upon becoming aware of the move by the FCT Minister, the affected house owners filed a case against it at the High Court of the FCT and that all necessary court papers were duly served on the Minister.
He said it was disheartened that Wike, being a lawyer, could proceed to execute the demolition in spite of the pendency of the suit of the house owners.
The lawyer said, “We have been briefed, and we have the instruction of the Home Builders Association of Nigeria to bring to the notice of Nigerians that the Minister, Nyesom Wike, has been involved in an illegal demolition of properties in Sabon Lugbe in Abuja.
“Our clients have all the necessary title documents for Sabon Lugbe Abuja. Before they started the projects, they got building permits from the Development Control Unit of the FCT administration.
“It is on record that before development control will issue any permit, it will liaise with the Urban and Regional Planning, who will verify whether the applicant is actually the real owner of the property he wants to develop and payment was made to the said development control.
‘However, to the surprise of everybody, the Minister, without notice to anybody and our clients and by executive fiat, directed the said Development Control to go to Sabon Lugbe to destroy properties worth over N200 billion.
“As we speak today, the said demolition has rendered many Nigerians homeless because people were residents in the said place, and today, they are homeless.
“What bothers our clients is that for the Minister to enter such a place and order for the demolition, there must be a court order. The Minister cannot be a judge in his own case. He cannot say the people are land grabbers and at the same time issue orders for demolition.
“There is no such order from any competent court from the FCT. As of today, even when the Minister was aware that the said area has become a subject of litigation, he has been served the said processes, but in his characteristic manner, he went ahead to demolish the estate.
“And of note, what Nigerians should know is that the reason behind the said demolition is because the Honourable Minister is interested in allocating that same said place to other developers.
“As we speak today, the internet is awash with the news of the same place being allocated to another developer. And the said offer was made to the new developers on October 31, 2024, just yesterday.
“So, which means the Honourable Minister, at the beginning, has an ulterior motive in demolishing those areas because he wants to re-allocate that place to his friends and to his colleagues.
“One then wonders, why would the Honourable Minister allocate a place that is already fully developed to another developer? What’s the essence?
“Has the entire land in Abuja finished? The Honourable Minister cannot allocate another place to the said new developers even when the place is a subject of litigation. The Honourable Minister, who is a lawyer—not just a lawyer; he is a life member of the Body of Benchers—can do such a thing?
“We wonder why the Honourable Minister will go ahead to allocate a place that is a subject of litigation in court when he knows that, by the doctrine of Liz pendis, he should not do anything that will foist a faith accomplice on the court.
“The Honourable Minister has shown disdain to court. They will always refer Nigerians to them. go to court, and Nigerians have now gone to court to seek redress for the illegal demolition carried out by the Honourable Minister.
“That is why we are here, to inform the gentlemen of the press, because we know that once the information has gotten to you, the information will be properly disseminated to the nooks and crannies of this country and even beyond, and that the Honourable Minister should be called to order so that he will not invite chaos in the FCT.
“We are calling on President Bola Tinubu, who appointed Wike, to call him to order or to remove him from being the Minister of the FCT, because what he is doing is giving him a bad name.
“The property owners are in court. Let the matter be resolved in court. The matter is already before the court. Why are they rushing? Why are they jumping gun? Why are they disrespecting the institution that brought them in? That’s why we are here.
“We are calling the international community; we are calling well-meaning Nigerians to get into this matter so that it will not degenerate into chaos, which, at the end of the day, Nigerians will suffer for,” the lawyer said.
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