By Ismaila Jimoh, Abuja
Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory on Public Communication and Social Media, Lere Olayinka has said that the recent comment made by the Senator representing FCT, Ireti Kingibe over the enforcement of law against defauters of ground rent only succeeded in exposing her ignorance of Land Use Act.
Senator Kingibe had condemned through a statement that the sealing of properties of defaulters of ground rent by the FCT Administration failed to follow the due process, saying that no Nigerian’s property can be lawfully seized, revoked, or sealed solely on account of failure to pay to pay ground rent.
But Wike’ Aide, Olayinka, while responding in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Thursday described the Senator’s comment on the enforcement of payment of Ground Rent as ridiculously illogical, advising her to purge her self from the hatred she is been harbouring against the Minister and stop seeing issues from the angle of “I hate Wike.”
Olayinka explained that land allocation is not unconditional, that there are conditions attached to it, and one of them is annual Ground Rent, advising the Senator to desist from penchant for seeking for cheap political gains on every issue.
He said; “It is ridiculously embarrassing that a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whose duty is to make laws is ignorant of the provisions of Section 28, Subsections (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act.
“For the education of Senator Kingibe, Section 28, Subsections (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act provides that ‘The Government may revoke a Statutory Right of Occupancy on the ground of; (a) a breach of any of the provisions which a certificate of occupancy is by Section 10 deemed to contain; and (b) a breach of any term contained in the Certificate of Occupancy.
“Now, is annual payment of Ground Rent not part of the terms contained in the Certificate of Occupancy? Or Senator Kingibe just chose to advertise her myopic attitude to anything Wike?”
The FCT Minister’s Spokesperson said she should rather have said that “land owners in the FCT have rights to refuse to pay necessary bills stated in the Certificate of Occupancy issued to them, and that when they so do, the government should simply pick samba and tambourine, and sing their praises.
“Now, if land allottees refused to pay Ground Rent for 10 to 43 years, Senator Ireti Kingibe will just look away if she was the FCT Minister?”, Olayinka added.
