The Senate has called on the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to immediately halt all property demolitions in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This decision was made on Thursday after the Senate established an ad-hoc committee to investigate the demolitions, with a two-week timeline to submit its findings.

The resolution followed a motion presented by Senator Ireti Kingibe (LP – FCT) and seconded by Senator Natasha Akpabio-Uduaghan (PDP – Kogi Central). The ad-hoc committee, chaired by Deputy Senate President Senator Barau Jibrin, includes nine other senators.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, reading the resolution, stated, “The Senate urges the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to stop further demolitions of structures, except those ordered by courts of competent jurisdiction, until the Adhoc Committee concludes its investigation and interfaces with the FCT administration.”

In her lead debate, Senator Kingibe expressed concern that the current demolition exercises lack adherence to court orders and due process, causing significant hardship for affected individuals. She highlighted the case of an estate owned by the late Colonel Paul Osakpawan Ogbebor, allocated in 1984 with proper title documentation, which is now under threat of revocation and demolition.

Senator Kingibe emphasized the need for all demolitions to follow due process and urged the Senate to investigate the propriety of the demolitions.

However, Senator Karimi Sunday (APC – Kogi West) argued that the Senate should first hear from the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, before issuing a directive to halt demolitions.

In contrast, Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters, supported the motion, stating that stopping the demolitions was necessary to ensure fairness and prevent irreversible actions during the investigation.

Senate President Akpabio aligned with this stance, arguing that allowing demolitions to continue would undermine the purpose of the investigation. He stated, “If we say continue the demolition and then we start investigating, what are we investigating? We need to ensure that demolitions are not personal and are in the best interest of Nigerians.”

The Senate resolved to call on the FCT Minister to suspend all demolition activities pending the outcome of the ad-hoc committee’s investigation.