The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has announced that 189 landowners who have failed to develop their landed properties have been granted a three-month grace to do so or risk having their allocation papers revoked.
This Minister disclosed that failure of these landowners to begin developing their bare lands within the grace period will lead to the revocation of their allocation papers.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the Director of Information and Communication for the FCTA, Mr Muhammad Sule, articulated the FCT Minister’s directive on Sunday in Abuja.
According to Mr Sule, the affected 109 title holders had gotten their respective build plans approved but have failed to erect any structure on their lands as they should have.
Threat of revocation of title documents in line with extant laws, FCTA says
The FCTA director stated that Wike’s threat to revoke title documents of the property owners who fail to comply with this three-month grace period to develop their lands is in line with extant laws.
Mr Sule clarified that the three-month grace period specifically applied to individuals and to corporate organisations that had obtained building plan approvals to develop their properties.
He also mentioned that public institutions within the FCT that had land titles but are yet to develop the same are advised to comply to avoid sanction.
- In Sule’s words: “The minister has extended this gesture to 189 property owners due to their desire to develop the properties by obtaining building plan approvals, a prerequisite for the development of any property in the FCT.
- “Owners of the plots were exempted from revocation because they had already demonstrated a firm commitment to developing their property by obtaining necessary documents from the FCT Administration.
“The minister is urging the affected property owners to take advantage of the gesture and develop their plots in line with the terms of their Offer of Right-of-Occupancy.’’