Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has directed the immediate removal of all buildings found obstructing designated water channels in Abuja, declaring that the exercise will affect property owners irrespective of their political influence or social standing.
Wike issued the directive following the recent flooding experienced in several parts of the nation’s capital, saying the government would no longer tolerate developments that obstruct the natural flow of water.
The minister said the demolition exercise would commence immediately and warned officials of the FCT Development Control Department against frustrating or delaying the enforcement.
“I am going to bring those houses down. Any house that is found on the channel—water channel will go down,” Wike said.
He disclosed that some of the properties built on waterways belonged to serving senators and other influential Nigerians, stressing that their positions would not protect them from the enforcement action.
“Some of them are senators. Some of them are big men,” he said.
Wike also rejected the argument that the demolition exercise could be interpreted as politically motivated because it was taking place close to an election.
According to him, the government would continue to enforce planning regulations regardless of the prevailing political situation.
“The next thing you will see, campaign now, ‘Oh, why is he doing this during period of election?’ That is the next campaign you will see now. ‘Stop him! Let us finish election.’ Whether there’s election or there’s no election, all those houses will go down,” he said.
The minister explained that many of the affected structures had existed for several years, making it difficult to blame the current administration for their existence.
“Those houses are not houses that were built last week. Those houses have been there 10 years ago, eight years ago,” he said.
He maintained that the enforcement was not targeted at poor residents, arguing that most of the properties erected on prohibited areas belonged to wealthy individuals.
“All those built-up areas that were not supposed to be built up, not a single poor person will live there. Those houses are houses built by well-to-do Nigerians,” he stated.
On the flooding, Wike said the increasing intensity of rainfall, partly linked to climate change and weather patterns, was one of the factors responsible for the recent incidents.
He, however, stressed that human activities had compounded the problem.
The minister identified the blockage of waterways by buildings, development on unauthorised land, failure to properly desilt drainage systems and indiscriminate dumping of waste as some of the major factors aggravating flooding in the FCT.
“We are in a climate change era. The kind of rains we have experienced, or we are experiencing now, we have not experienced before. But that is not that there are no man-made factors,” Wike said.
He further criticised the conversion of green areas within the FCT into parks, describing such practices as another violation of the territory’s development plan.
Wike said the government would correct longstanding land-use violations regardless of when they originated.
“Because something was done wrongly many years ago, and then it will not be corrected? No, we will not allow that. We won’t,” he said.
The minister also highlighted what he described as achievements of the FCT administration in the area of land administration, saying 26,000 Certificates of Occupancy had been issued within the past three years.
He contrasted the figure with the 7,000 C of Os he said were issued by two previous administrations over a combined 13-year period.
Wike accused some critics of using the flooding incident to undermine the achievements of his administration rather than acknowledging its efforts to improve land administration and infrastructure.
“The moment they saw the figures in terms of certificates of occupancy to ease businesses came out, instead of them to commend the administration, they used the issue of flood to begin to play politics,” he said.
The minister nevertheless commended residents who brought genuine concerns about flooding to the attention of the authorities, saying such citizens were helping the government identify areas requiring urgent intervention.
He criticised those he accused of using images and videos of flooded areas to generate political controversy.
Wike insisted that the administration would not abandon the enforcement exercise because of political pressure.
“I never created any flood. So, I hope now that we have started to demolish, you won’t cry to say, ‘Oh, it’s against a political opponent.’ No,” he said.
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