The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says it will, from Monday, May 26, begin taking possession of nearly 5,000 properties across Abuja, including high-profile locations like the PDP National Secretariat, INEC offices, and lands owned by the CBN and NNPC.
The move comes months after the FCTA revoked 4,794 land titles for defaulting on ground rent payments, with some owners owing as far back as 43 years.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, May 23, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications to the FCT Minister, Lere Olayinka, alongside senior land and development officials, said the administration would not consider the identity of the owners in carrying out the action.
“Ownership of the revoked 4,794 properties in the Central Area, Garki I and II, Wuse I and II, Asokoro, Maitama and Guzape districts had already reverted to the FCTA,” officials said.
“And as from Monday, next week, the government will begin to exercise its rights of ownership on the affected landed properties. As usual, this will be done without consideration as to ownership of the affected landed properties. It will be purely in line with extant laws and regulations guiding the process.”
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One of the affected buildings is the Wadata Plaza in Wuse Zone 5, long recognised as the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Though the FCTA clarified that the building is now privately owned, it said the current owner, Samaila Mamman Kofi, owes ₦2.84 million in ground rent from 1998 to 2025.
Other major institutions on the list include the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Nigerian Postal Service, Independent National Electoral Commission, National Universities Commission, Federal Ministry of Environment, Niger Delta Development Commission, and the Borno State Government.
Director of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, said the takeover would involve sealing off the properties and restricting access from Monday. He added that the administration would decide later what to do with them.
Reacting to reports that some of the property owners had taken legal action, Director of Land Administration, Chijioke Nwankwoeze, insisted there was no court order halting the process.