The Federal Capital Territory Administration has realised N5.6billion from the allocation of Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) to 200 allottes in the Maitama Extension District in Abuja.
FCT Minister Mohammed Bello stated this on Monday at a meeting of the Senate Committee on FCT with officials of FCTA and the Chief of Army Staff over acquisition of the District by Nigerian Army.
The 246 hectares of land, which was allocated to the Nigerian Army in 1996, had been in contention after 600 plots were allocated to individuals in 2009 by the former FCT administration.
Bello blamed his predecessor, Adamu Aliero, for illegally allocating the plots of land.
Aliero, the senator representing Kebbi Central in the National Assembly, elected under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was appointed FCT Minister by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in December 2008. He left office in March 2010 when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet.
“For the records, I want to mention that the area in contention was an area earmarked for the Nigerian Army under the Guards Brigade way back in 1996. For some time in 2009, plots allocations were made there and commitments were undertaken by the FCTA in terms of infrastructure. Allocated plots in that area from our records number about 600, out of which C-of-O’s have been issued to about 200. And the FCT Administration had received payments from the allotees to the tune of about N5.6billion.
“And also had made commitments in respect of providing infrastructure in that area at a cost of about N23billion for which commitments and payments of about N9billion had been made”, he told the Dino Melaye-led Committee.
While stating that the current FCTA administration is in talks with the Nigerian Army with a view to resolving the impasse, he however, assured that allottees who have made financial commitments would not lose their funds.
In his submission, the Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai appealed to Nigerians to consider the security implication of acquiring properties close to military facilities, adding that the location of the army facility is ‘quite strategic’.
On his part, Melaye carpeted the former FCT Minister Bala Mohammed for allocating lands in the District indiscriminately.
