Mohammed Bello, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has said his administration no longer allocates land to individuals because the government is working with the private sector to develop mass housing through mass housing allocation, and focusing on infrastructure development in the city.
Bello said many individuals that were allocated land by the previous administration in the past years did not build on the land or develop it. He added that the allottees could not access the land largely due to infrastructural deficit.
The minister said this on Monday in Abuja at the 20th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari’ (PMB) Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023), organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture.
He informed the gathering that there is a new template on land allocation in the nation’s capital; hence, land is no longer going to be available and easy like it was 20 years ago.
Bello also said that his administration is encouraging private sector participation and Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) to provide infrastructure in the capital city, including the new districts created.
He advised individuals who are interested in investing in property in Abuja to get land in an estate that is already under development.
“The whole idea of land is for people to build and that’s why we prefer to develop infrastructure and then provide access to areas and build land. It doesn’t make sense for you to give people a false sense of hope with a piece of paper of allocation for an area that will take them a lifetime to access,” he said.
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“We are now encouraging the private sector to develop mass housing through direct mass housing allocation for them to put up buildings and then work out with off-takers who will take this land. Some of these is being done directly by the government through the cooperative society of ministries and departments or by private sector companies; and now through the land swap system where we open up a totally new district and allow the private sector to develop and then they sell the land and the buildings,” he said.
Speaking further, the minister said the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has made tremendous impact in the socio-economic development and political development of the city through provision of infrastructure, security, health, among several others.
He said the FCT administration under his leadership completed several projects inherited from previous administration and initiated many others which are at different levels of completion. Bello listed some of the projects to include: the rehabilitation and expansion of Kubwa expressway, airport expressway; construction of southern parkway, reconstruction of United Nations building, among others.
The minister further said the Abuja Light Rail will resume service before the end of his administration in May.
“When we came in 2015, about 52 percent of the project was done and we pushed it to 100 percent,” Bello said, explaining that the rail stopped operations because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lai Mohammed, minister of Information and Culture in his opening remarks welcomed the decision by the
United States of America to slam a visa ban on some Nigerians who are undermining democracy.
“hatever action is taken against anyone who undermines this democracy that has been watered by the blood of many of our patriots is right and justified,” Mohammed said.
“For us as a government, we are proud to say that no Administration since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999 has shown more fidelity to the democratic
process than ours, and no President since 1999 has been as unambiguous as President Muhammadu Buhari, in word and in deed, with regards to leaving office after the constitutionally-stipulated two terms.”
