Alh. Shehu Nuhu, an Abuja-based real estate developer has criticised the recent pronouncment regarding the recent press release by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) announcing sweeping reforms in land administration under the direction of the FCT Minister, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike.
He said though the FCTA may have good intentions, the reforms raises deep concerns about the long-term implications for the integrity of the Abuja Master Plan, equitable land access, and environmental sustainability.
Furthermore, he said, mandating that allottees must develop their plots within two years ignores the economic reality of inflation, exchange rate instability, and building material shortages. “This is not about development, but about creating artificial breaches to enable revocation and reallocation of land under ministerial discretion”.
Alh. Nuhu said the 21-day window to pay prescribed fees and submit Letters of Acceptance is grossly unrealistic for the average Nigerian allottee, many of whom are civil servants or informal workers without access to immediate liquidity.
“This will inevitably disenfranchise thousands of legitimate landholders, paving the way for politically connected individuals and entities to hijack abandoned or “forfeited” lands”.
While cloaked in the language of urban development, investor confidence, and administrative efficiency, the new policy directives, he reiterated, appear to be more of a legal smokescreen to facilitate massive land dispossession and reward cronies under the pretext of reforms.
The real estate developer therefore called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately order an independent review of the FCT Land Reform Framework, institute a moratorium on revocations pending stakeholder consultation.
“He should also protect the Abuja Master Plan from further desecration under the guise of “reform.”
” The National Assembly should also investigate the operational motives behind these new land policies and ensure they are not used to legalize land grabbing” Shehu Nuhu said.
