In a published list of 16,320 names, including embassies, government agencies, companies, prominent and not-so-prominent Nigerians, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) is asking defaulters to pay up their ground rents or face sanctions.
Among those listed are immediate past First Lady, Aisha Buhari and two of her children, Yusuf and Zahra. Combined, they owe less than a million Naira.
Tens of billions of Naira are owed FCTA by those on the long list.
The FCTA gives defaulters on list published in 100 pages of a national newspaper two weeks to pay up. The defaulters are those with landed property within Phase one to four of the Federal Capital City (FCC).
Meanwhile, the administration has also threatened to revoke allocations of residential homes arbitrarily converted to other uses in Abuja.
The Federal Government had sold its non-essential residential houses in 2007 because it could not bear the burden of maintenance, and most of the the public servants occupying the houses acquired them.
But the Director, Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, lamented at a press conference in his Wuse Zone 5 office, Friday that owners of the houses are converting them into other uses, especially commercial use
He said that the houses were sold to the occupiers so that they could maintain them, adding however that many beneficiaries began converting the houses into other uses.
The development, he says, has become burdensome in terms of city administration and management.
“It is on this note that the Minister has approved and directed that all owners of such properties should revert the use of the properties to its original and designated land use which is residential.
“Failing to comply with this directive as from November 1, the house is considered as revoked.
“We are giving such persons and individuals to the end of October to revert to original uses, otherwise from November 1, they should consider such properties as revoked and returned to FCTA”, he added.
Galadima said his department has recorded more than 111 cases of arbitrary land use conversions in respect of the sold houses, cutting across all the districts of the capital city.
He said that owners of the properties have been informed and given notices to revert to the original land uses but failed to comply.
He states further: “The Minister has also directed that owners of properties, particularly along major streets that have converted their properties to other uses without approval should either revert to original use or pay contravention charges.
“Anyone that fails to comply with such a directive, the Administration will take appropriate action, which may include revocation.
“It is on this note that we felt it is wise to inform the public of the decision and directive of the FCT Administration with regards to the indiscriminate conversion of land uses in FCT. This is done to maintain the sanctity of the Abuja Master Plan.”