The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FCDA

  • FHA, FCDA to float development control agency

    The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and the Department of Development Control (DDC), Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) are to set up an inter-agency committee to guide development control in FHA estates in Abuja.

    The FHA will develop the framework for the operation of the committee and send it to the DDC for its input and rectification.

    These were some of the decisions taken at a meeting between the FHA management and the department in Abuja.

    FHA  Managing Director Prof Mohammed Al-Amin, told the visiting DDC acting Managing Director Alhaji Hamza Tayyab, that the authority has seen some vibrancy in development control activities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    He said the FHA would support the FCT Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Bello, in his quest to bequeath, a model city to the FCT that would make all Nigerians proud. The authority, Al-Amin said, would work on attaining  excellence in its business, adding that the agency had a strong promising to meet the expectations of FHA’s partners in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). FHA, he said, would stop any contravention brought to its notice, stating that it is important to resolve outstanding matters  amicably.

    On assumption of office, Al-Amin said, he ordered a study on the development of the authority’s Gwarinpa Estate in Abuja, adding that the exercise turned out disturbing revelations.  The report, according to him, showed that rather than the standard 20 per cent of the estate left as green area, only five per cent was. In addition, he said the report warned that with climate change on the rise, the estate stood the risk of flooding because of allocations across water channels and flood areas.

    The FHA boss said he had stopped such allocations and was exploring ways to relocate those already made. He said the authority was worried about the spate of illegal conversion of residential buildings into commercial use, its management. He said had considered converting three of the avenues in the estate into commercial boulevards, but the Urban and Regional Department of the FCDA resisted the move because it considered it a breach of the master plan of the estate.

    Tayyab said his team was at FHA because it considered it a strategic partner in the development of the FCT. He explained that the new FCT Minister had a vision of what the Territory should be and that all stakeholders owed it duty to achieve the vision.

    He said the minister was against the granting of building approvals on flood plains, green areas and on the hills of Abuja but said his agency had noticed contraventions in some FHA allocations such as on Maitama Hill where there is no access and which ought to be preserved.

    He said similar breach was noticed in Apo and Gwarinpa Estate, especially where he said residential buildings were being flagrantly converted to commercial use and approvals were granted for buildings along flood plains.

    Tayyab said his agency was aware of the FHA’s lack of capacity in equipment and manpower and promised that his department was ready to synergise with the FHA to facilitate the development of a city of everybody’s dreams.

  • Indigenes urge Buhari, EFCC to probe FCDA officials

    Indigenes of Dagbalo community in Apo area of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC )  to investigate the activities of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) officials in respect of allocation of plots, especially those whose

    Certificates of Occupancy were approved in less than the stipulated one year.

    The indigenes through their leader,  Rev. Danjuma Tanks, who made this call on behalf of the community, insisted that if the investigation on what he described a the nefarious  activities of FCDA officials commences, it will aide in healing the wounds suffered by indigenes of Abuja.

    Rev. Tanko said the Indigenes who affected by the ill fated activities of the FCDA were subjected to untold hardship and all manners of inhuman treatment by the past Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed.

    According to him, the FCTA through the department of Ressetlement and Compensation took a bulldozer two years ago, which was July 30, 2013 to demolish the entire Dagbalo community and destroyed their farm lands  without any ressetlement or compensation.

    “They allocated the same area to one Mr. Owuora, the owner Owuora group of companies. It took the FCDA officials, led by the director of Ressetlement and Compensation, Mr Francis Okechuckwu five days,  in company of well armed Military personnel in a pickup van to wipe off our entire community.

    “Our people who were helpless and armless,  could do nothing,  but to report the matter to the nearest Police division at Apo, where we advised to go to court  and the case has been in court for the past two years now. All efforts by our Counsel to ensure quick dispensation of justice has proved abortive. This is therefore causing untold hardship and more suffering to our people, even as we squatting with our neighbours.

    “Also,  about this time last year, the FCDA called for settlement out of  court, which we did not object to. But,  for the past five months now, they have  failed to fulfil the promises they made to us.  Instead, they tried to lobby me to sell out my community and I bluntly rejected it. So, we are back in court and since then, the FCDA has resorted to delaying the court procedures, without respect to the judicial process .

    “Counsel to the FCDA has joined in frustrating the case by failing to tender his redress for adoption, which ought to have been been done since July, 2015, before the court went on recess, but neither the director nor their defense counsel were in court to tender  their redress for adoption. Now,  the resumption the next adjournment has been shiftedOctober 17, 2015.

    “We are appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari, who we see as an act of God to liberate us from our suffering,  through his anticorruption campaign to investigate the nefarious activities of the FCDA and they way they are subjecting indigenes of the FCT to immeasurable suffering by forcefully confisticating their land without due compensation and resettlement,”he said.

    Tanko further appealed to President Buhari to instruct the incoming minister of the FCT to ensure that their communities which were wrongly demolished by the FCDA and allocated to a single developer are restored to the people,  saying that as it is presently,  none of the affected indigenes have any place to call their villages or hometown.

     

  • Indigenes fault FCDA on out-of-court settlement

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has opted for an out-of-court settlement in the case between it and the Dagbalo community in the territory, but the indigenous people have issues with the processes of the settlement.

    Rev. Danjuma Tanko, who spoke with reporters after the court proceedings at the FCT High Court under Justice Jude Okeke at Daki-biu in Jabi District, explained that the committee was set up by the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed and his name was said to have been included for compensation as a move for an out-of-court settlement.

    Rev. Tanko said: “The truth is that in the case of demolishing a community, if there is the need to talk about compensation, the FCDA has to compensate the entire Dagbalo community. If they want to compensate only me, it is wrong, because I am not alone; I belong to the community.

    “That is what they have not been able to conclude. Out of about 100 households, they were able to provide 48 alternative houses and the remaining ones they diverted to unknown places. I have the list with me. Besides that, were they supposed to enforce demolition for resettlement without being compensated?

    “I will never trust the FCDA. If they want settlement out of court, they should include my people. I cannot be comfortable alone, they must go through the due process of compensation. Now, they have cut us off from my community and wiped off the community. Will they be able to get us that kind of community?

    Also, while speaking with journalists, counsel to Dagbalo, Mr. Nkem Adolphima explained that it was announced by the counsel to the FCDA that they had a meeting but were yet to resolve the issue and they needed some time to settle everything that would lead to out-of-court settlement, that the name of the plaintiff has been short-listed for compensation.

    “The fact that both parties have got their evidence and they are working towards ending the case, the next adjoined date will be to adopt the final written address, because we have been told to file our written addresses.

    “Hopefully, based on what the FCDA lawyer said, that they have filed out papers and documents, that the names of the plaintiff have been short-listed.

    “If before the next adjoined date, which is June 30, and they bring their evidences before the court, the case will have a different dimension. Otherwise, the court will proceed to adopt the written address and then take a date for judgment. Although, out-of-court settlement may not be the best option, if they present something that is when something will come out of it.

    “It is not the issue of the FCDA giving promises, we want to see something that would serve as evidences of what they intend to do; that would show that they really want an out-of-court settlement. It is not just having out-of-court settlement with verbal promises. It is not done that way.

    “If we are able to see documents on allocations and compensations, then we will know that we are arriving at somewhere,” she said.

     

  • Scrap FCDA

    Natives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have called for the scraping of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to ensure smooth operations of the incoming administration.

    The indigenous people who spoke through the Magajin Garki, Joel Yazegbe, at a press briefing tagged “Way forward for FCT natives in the incoming administration”, congratulated the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, even as they advised him to institute an investigation panel to probe the roles officials of the FCDA played on matters of land allocation.

    They further appealed to the incoming administration to carry the natives along by appointing one of them as a minister and to give them the opportunity to contribute to decisions and policies that affect them directly.

    According to Yazegbe, the natives are also appealing to the incoming administration to investigate the allocation of plots of land for numerous housing estates in the FCT, most of which are not occupied.

    “We want the incoming administration to ignore any document that is not properly presented by natives of the FCT. If there is any issue concerning the natives, we want it to represent the collective agreement of the natives.

    “We know that the era when some individuals in the FCT use names of fake association of original inhabitants to deceive any government in power for their selfish interests is over. This is because it has been to the detriment of the original inhabitants of the FCT. This time, we will not tolerate that from any so-called natives who want to sell their birthrights for peanuts.

    “That was how most of them encouraged the Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed to come up with the land-swap policy, which has become punishment of some sorts to innocent natives of the territory. We are calling on the incoming President to beware of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agents who will always hide under the original inhabitants to deceive any appointed minister of the FCT,” he said.

  • FCDA bulldozers pull down Kpaduma houses

    Bulldozers from the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and Development Control have moved into Kpaduma communities, pulling down houses there.

    On hand as the bulldozers moved were personnel of the FCDA alongside armed Joint Task Force team.

    This was said to be in violation of a court injunction restraining the FCDA from demolishing houses in  Kpaduma communities in the  Asokoro district of Abuja.

    Witnesses were said to have been confused and did all they could to prevent the demolition.

    The residents were reportedly overpowered by the armed JTF who threatened to shoot them if they made any further move to prevent the sdemolition.

    The JTF which consisted of over 15 officers of the Nigeria Army and about 16 officers of the police, were careful to remove their tags and emblems in order to forestall any identification, before they entered the community to carry out the action.

    They positioned themselves in strategic areas to form a barricade against interference for the bulldozer demolishing the houses.

    Secretary to the communities, Mr. Simon Baba-Yerima, who could not keep his tears from flowing freely, lamented the pains that the residents were subjected to as a result of the demolition carried out by the officials of FCDA, Development Control and the JTF personnel.

    “This is really painful, provoking, disastrous and unacceptable; this is really an act of military cum civilian brutality against innocent Nigerians. Our people are thrown into unnecessary confusion because of this unannounced demolition exercise. This is really wicked and for the fact that our case is still in court.

    “The people who entered our community introduced themselves as officials of FCDA and Development Control, in company of well armed JTF as if they were going for war, just to demolish our houses. This is unacceptable. Our matter is in court and again, they are violating the law of the land. Is it a crime that we are poor? This is our village and we have the right to have a peaceful life, just like we were before the inception of the FCT.

    “I wonder why the FCDA officials are coming to demolish our houses, it is unfair. We do not have any more trust in the government, because, we are living in fear. The JTF had to beat up our youth and arrested over five of them, for no good reason, after they had carried out their assigned duties. This is a democratic government for God sake, not military, why are they treating us like animals?” Baba-Yerima lamented.

    One of the affected residents, Joseph Madaki, explained how the JTF sprayed tear-gas on them and shot in the air to scare them away. “They tied up our people and told them to face the sun, beating them up as if they were criminals. This is very painful, why is this government allowing its citizens to be maltreated this way? We are suffering.

    “The way they are treating us in this FCT is not fair, this is our land, where do they want us to go to? They want to push us out of our homeland, without making alternative provision for us. The worst part of this whole thing, is that the people doing all this things to us, have their villages in their various states and they want to remove us from our own. That is not fair,” he said.

    When newsmen visited the office of Development Control to find out their role in the demolition exercise, one of the senior Staff who preferred anonymity said that the information got to him, but, that he was not aware of any instruction from superior authorities to commence the demolition of the community, knowing that the case between Kpaduma communities and the FCTA is still in court.

    The youth of Kpaduma I, who were arrested by the JTF are Jerry Sarki, Yerima Fajemi, John Danlami, Kefas Tanko, Ishaya Danladi. At the time of filing this report, information about the whereabout of the youth was still unknown.

     

  • Minister restructures FCDA

    The Board of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) has approved the immediate re-structuring of the Authority.

    Minister of the FCT and Chairman of the Board, Senator Bala Mohammed, revealed this after the board’s meeting.

    With the re-structuring, Mohammed said a new Department of Engineering Design and Evaluation has been established, which aimed at boosting the morale of staff to accelerate the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    According to a statement issued by the Assistant Director/Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, Muhammad Sule, the minister said the Department of Engineering Design and Evaluation will have four divisions namely Civil Design ‘North’ Electrical/Mechanical Design, Civil Design ‘South’ and Evaluation Divisions to be headed by Deputy Directors.

    He said: “The re-structuring is desirable in view of the apparent need for the expansion of the infrastructure of the Federal Capital Territory occasioned by the new concept of Public-Private-Partnership (PPP), particularly the Abuja Land Swap Initiative.”

    According to him, the Authority will only use its existing stream of staff to occupy the proposed offices; and also mitigate the incidence of stagnation which has prevailed over the years as a result of lack of vacant positions with its attendant toll of low morale on the staff.

    Meanwhile, the minister has revealed that the board had also approved the immediate promotion of 281 senior members of staff to fill vacant positions in the FCDA.

    He said the board had also approved the advancement/upgrading of 61 members of staff that were qualified.

  • ‘Malaria causes 11 percent maternal mortality’

    Malaria is responsible for 11 percent of cases of maternal mortality in Nigeria, The Secretary for Health in the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Demola Onakomaiya, has stated.

    He gave the figure while speaking with newsmen in Abuja.

    Onakomaiya said: “Malaria causes 30% under five years mortality, 25% infant mortality and 11% maternal mortality in Nigeria thus it is a dreadful disease of high public health burden in Nigeria however it is preventable and can be defeated and eliminated”.

    He said malaria, which is a house hold name, is a life- threatening disease caused by parasites transmitted to people through the bite of infected female anopheles mosquito.

    He added: “It should be noted that about 97% of the population are at risk of suffering from Malaria each year”.

    About N132 billion, he further stated, is lost annually due to all effects of malaria considered on the economy.

  • ‘Project’ll create 10 million jobs’

    ‘Project’ll create 10 million jobs’

    Aviation Minister Ms Stella Oduah has declared that the Nigeria Aerotropolis project will create 10 million jobs, especially in the first two years of its take off.

    Oduah said an estimated N100 billion will be generated annually from the initiative.

    The minister was speaking at the Public Hearing by the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee probing the FCT Land Swap.

    The Ministry of Aviation is participating in the land swap for the Abuja Aerotropolis project.

    She said the projects, to be sited in Abuja and other major airports, would transform the economy and the living standards of the rural farmers through Perishable Cargo exports.

    The minister said the initiative was private-sector driven, with 20 per cent equity holding through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

    Ms Oduah said the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) had endorsed the Abuja Aerotropolis for which documentation was being finalised for the land acquisition.

  • Court upholds demolition of N3.5b Abuja estate

    Justice Danlami Senchi of the Abuja High Court, Apo, yesterday upheld the demolition of about 400 housing units in a private estate by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).

    In a judgment, which dazed scores of subscribers to the housing project, Justice Senchi held that although the subscribers had the land validly allocated to them, they failed to obtain the necessary development approvals from the territory’s authorities.

    The demolished houses, estimated at N3.5 billion, the Minanuel Estate on the popular Airport Road in Lugbe, Abuja, sued the FCT Minister and the FCDA following the demolition of the houses in September, last year.

    They said the demolition violated their right to property, adding that they were issued statutory right of occupancy through letters signed by the Zonal Land Manager, Kubwa, Lugard Idigbe, on behalf of the FCT Minister, in 2000.

    Justice Senchi upheld the argument by the respondents that the “stop work” red markings on the walls of the buildings were notices of unauthorised development.

  • Bulldozers pull down structures on rail line

    The Development Control Department of the  Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) has begun the demolition of structures on rail line in Kubwa and Bwari area of the FCT.

    The demolition exercise which lasted for about five hours last week affected the structures built along the proposed light rail lines.

    Affected residents said although they had earlier been notified, the demolition was sudden as it took them unawares.

    They also accused the government of what they described as ‘selective’ demolition, saying some houses along the rail lines were spared during the exercise.

    A woman, whose house was affected by the demolition close to the Court of Appeal Quarters, in Byazhin area of Kubwa, bemoaned the inhuman approach of the officials, saying that she lost  property worth millions of naira to the exercise.

    “We pleaded with them to give us at least 10 minutes to remove our belongings but they refused. If they had agreed we wouldn’t have lost all these properties,” lamented the woman, who craved anonymity.

    Another resident, an owner of a three- bedroom flat, who gave his name as Mustapha, said he was not around when the bulldozers stormed the area.

    “I was away when they came, and when I arrived, my building was already down with none of my properties recovered,” he lamented.

    He said although some of them were compensated, but the amount is so meagre that it cannot afford a land, not to talk of the structure.

    When our reporter visited the area, the affected persons were busy retrieving the remaining items, with the assistance of some bricklayers and friends.

    Scavengers also took advantage of the opportunity to loot people’s property.

    The director, FCT Development Control Department, Yahaya Yusuf, said those affected were duly compensated and given enough notice to move out their things, adding that the time given to them had since elapsed before the date of the demolition.

    On the allegation of selective demolition of houses, the director said those houses that were spared are  yet to be compensated and would also be pulled down after due compensation.