The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will embark on the construction of a new “Renewed Hope City” comprising 10,000 housing units to be allocated to low-income earners.
Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, revealed this during his presentation at the ongoing ministerial sectoral update for the present administration in Abuja on Thursday.
He said the implementation of the project will be embedded in the next appropriation budget of the territory.
He assured that his administration would provide the necessary infrastructure in the city and determine the criteria to select the beneficiaries.
Wike lamented the high level of corruption in the land allocation process in the FCT, saying that his administration has been battling the menace since its inception.
The former Rivers State governor blamed the sharp practices on the land department of the FCT and the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS), the agency responsible for the computerisation of the cadastral and land registry of the territory.
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Accusing them of double allocation of land and instigating land disputes, the minister vowed to defeat corruption in the departments.
Wike also expressed regrets over the distortions to the Abuja master plan, expressing the commitment of his administration to deal ruthlessly with those violating development control requirements.
“You can’t be a leader without stepping on toes. You need to hit the hammer hard for them to follow rules,” he said.
He also blasted estate developers who secure huge expanses of land but rather than develop, choose to sell the plots.
Calling it a fraud, he said the FCT might as well be selling the plots itself.
The minister also lamented that the administration of land in the territory has been hampered by religion and ethnicity which are brought in by certain individuals.
“They use religion and ethnicity. But we are up to the task because we have the political will to do the right thing,” Wike vowed.
