Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has justified the decision of the FCT administration to repossess properties belonging to ground rent debtors, saying he would not be deterred by blackmail.
But a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Sule Lamido, said President Bola Tinubu had by his intervention in the FCTA ground rent saga, exposed Wike as an unreliable man without tradition and pedigree.
However, over 48 hours after Tinubu’s directive to unseal the confiscated properties, the national headquarters of the main opposition PDP was still under lock and key on Wednesday.
Briefing journalists, on Wednesday, after inspecting some of the projects lined up for commissioning by the president to mark his second year in office, Wike said ground rent remittance was one of the sources of income for the FCT administration, and vowed to take over the properties of defaulters if they refused to take advantage of the two-week grace for payment granted by Tinubu.
He stated, “I can assure you the president has given a window of two weeks. Let nobody think that blackmail or whatever will stop us.
“We will do what we are supposed to do. This is all about leadership. We will not give in to blackmail. We will do the right thing. If you have not paid, we will take.”
He lambasted the elite that owned properties in upscale districts for refusing to pay their mortgage, stating that the FCT is not an oil producing state, but relied solely on taxes for provision of infrastructure.
Wike said the administration was managing available resources prudently, and assured that FCT would be different if the public paid their taxes.
The former governor of Rivers State said, “It is unfortunate that most elite own houses overseas. They know the implication of not paying your taxes. They know such houses are gone.
“But when it comes to your own country, you do not want to do that, simply because nobody wants to obey law and everybody thinks there are no sanctions. And I have said it, that it did not happen yesterday does not mean it will not happen today.
“That it did not happen today does not mean it will not happen tomorrow. So, we must live. We must do something to say that we are also supporting government to see that the infrastructure that we need, we do our own part.”
He disclosed that the FCTA was considering increasing the ground rent as the rate charged in the past 20-30 years was no longer realistic.
Wike also dispelled reports that the explosion that rocked Mararaba-Nyanya axis of Abuja on Monday and injured one person was caused by a suspected suicide bomber.
He said the victim of the blast infiltrated into a quarry, where rock was blasted and indiscriminately took an explosive in his pocket, without understanding the implication.
The minister stated that the explosive later exploded on the victim, reportedly, at the bus stop opposite the Mogadishu Cantonment in Asokoro.
He clarified that he had not gotten any report that the person was a suicide bomber, saying it is not correct to impute otherwise.
Wike stated, “Well, be careful not to create an impression. The security never said it was a suicide bomber. So that you don’t go and create an impression and put fear in people. You should try to do what we call investigative journalism. NEMA is not the head of security. Security agencies are there.
“What happened there was that somebody went to where we have these quarries, where they blast all these rocks and took the explosive and put it in his pocket. Of course, some of them may not even understand the implication of that. And so, it exploded on him.
“That does not mean that it is a suicide bomber. So, we should be careful in the story we plant. And let’s not send the wrong message to the residents. You have said that the residents are also aware that there is improvement in security.”
Tinubu Has Exposed Wike as Unreliable, Lacking Pedigree, Says Ex-Gov Sule Lamido
Former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, said President Bola Tinubu had by his intervention in the FCTA ground rent issue exposed the FCT minister as an unreliable fellow without tradition and pedigree.
Lamido described Wike as a disaster and an ingrate bent on destroying the party that gave the platform that brought him to political relevance, stressing that Tinubu may likely abandon him very soon to save his government from further embarrassment.
The former minister of foreign affairs told journalists that while Wike claimed to love PDP, he was frontally undermining it and questioned why he was still in the party.
Lamido stated, “Here is someone who was honoured by the PDP, brought into relevance by the PDP, and now turns around to fight the very party that made him.
“Wike is, quite frankly, a disaster. What he has done is un-African and un-Nigerian. I don’t understand how someone, simply because of his own ambition, can take things so personally and act so destructively.
“There used to be a party culture that prioritised collective good, something altruistic, but that seems lost now.
“To seal the PDP secretariat, a party that produced you, nurtured you, no matter your grievances, no matter your bitterness, it is like destroying your own home. Yet, he claims he financed the party.
“But, is it wrong for a son to take care of his own mother? Does it now mean the mother must submit to the son and take orders from him simply because he is providing her clothing?”
Lamido declared that he would stop attending statutory meetings of PDP until Wike and the former governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, among others, were expelled from the party.
Lamido, a member of PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT), stated that Wike and Ortom, as well as a few others, should be expelled from PDP for working against its interest in the 2023 general election.
Meanwhile, despite Tinubu’s intervention, the national headquarters of PDP was still under lock and key on Wednesday.
When THISDAY visited the PDP headquarters at Wuse Zone 5 in Abuja at 2pm on Wednesday, the gate was still padlocked, while a seal of FCTA was pasted beside the lock.
Some staff of the party were seen sitting outside the main gate, while others loitered around, lamenting the development.
A staff member, who spoke with THISDAY on condition of anonymity, said he suspected that there was an underlying instruction that the PDP head office should not be opened.
Chuks Okocha and Olawale Ajimotokan
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