The newly appointed Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has resumed office immediately after his swearing-in, stating that buildings contravening the Abuja masterplan would be demolished.
Wike said this while holding a press conference in Garki, Abuja, shortly after President Bola Tinubu inaugurated him as the FCT minister on Monday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
He said, “All those people who are distorting the master plan of Abuja, too bad.
“If you know you have built where you’re not supposed to build, it will go down.”
Wike stressed the need to follow the Abuja master plan while developing the FCT, pointing out that those developing on the green areas in the FCT would lose their properties to demolition.
“If you hate green, you must hate yourself. So, if you know you have anybody involved that has taken over the green areas or has taken over the parks to where you now do restaurants, no, we will not accept that. It will go down. Sorry,” he said.
The former Rivers Governor also decried the poor environmental sanitation within the FCT environs. He noted the refuse that littered several parts of the nation’s capital, wondering what the agency tasked with clearing the refuses was doing.
Wike touched on individuals to whom the government has allocated lands and are yet to develop the said lands. He stated that his administration would revoke the license given to such individuals and offer them to people willing to develop them immediately.
He hinted that his administration would not tolerate non-payment of ground rent and would revoke the licenses of defaulters.
Wike disclosed that no project will be done for more than a year in his tenure.
He also stated that during his administration, he would be on ground to inspect and sign off projects in his office.
