Nyesom Wike, the minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has vowed to revoke titles of landed property owners in Abuja who are still owing ground rent.
The minister made this statement on Tuesday while receiving visitors from the ad hoc committee looking into the collapse of the Abuja mass transit system.
The amount of the unpaid ground rent, according to the former governor of Rivers, is about N34 billion.
The FCTA levies a tax known as ground rent on landed properties in the capital.
According to Wike, individuals who don’t pay their ground rent will have their titles revoked.
According to him, “I have calculated the debt of non-payment of ground rent, which is about N34 billion. I am going to collect all of those back. I don’t care all I want is for the rent to be paid.
“They will be given the grace of two weeks to pay. Whoever doesn’t pay, I’ll revoke it and give it to whoever will pay so that the necessary services will be rendered.
“People want to live in a beautiful city but don’t want to pay their dues which is impossible.”
The names of those who are supposed to pay ground rent, according to the minister, will be made public on Thursday.
He claimed that in order to fund the completion of abandoned projects and the start of new ones, the FCTA must increase its internally generated revenue (IGR).
Wike promised to make major changes to the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company (AUMTCO), which has not been able to fill the FCT’s transportation deficit.
He urged lawmakers to make sure that the FCT receives a better fiscal allocation in the upcoming Budget.
Ada Peter
