Metro

By Stanley Onyekwere

The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has enjoined residents to always help protect all public assets located within their neighbourhoods, by treating such critical public infrastructure as they would treat their personal property

Bello, who gave this charge in his New Year Message to residents, decried that the nation’s capital city is confronted daily with the unwholesome and unpatriotic activities of vandals who wantonly destroy or steal public infrastructure installed by government at great cost.

He noted that replacing or repairing these critical infrastructure cost a lot of

Abuja residents file 40,000 complaints daily on service delivery- Report

By Stanley Onyekwere

The FCT Administration’s Reform Coordination & Service Improvement Department (RCSID), Dr. Jumai Ahmadu has disclosed that the department daily receives a total of 40,000 complaints from the residents on service delivery.

Ahmadu, explained that out of the 40,000 calls, genuine issues are promptly responded to by the FCT Administration, as some of them are not registered as complaint but errors, which emanated as a result of some residents calling to confirm whether the FCT Call line really existed.

Disclosing this to Journalists, during a briefing on the activities of the department, the Director further explained that most of the complaints received are for Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), considering the role it plays.

She however, linked the endless complaints about the board to traders that come out side Abuja for their businesses in the territory, which they litter the city after their day transaction.

In her words: “On a daily basis we receive so many calls, in a year if we put everything together we receive over 100,000 calls.

“These calls are not mainly on the services we render, somebody will Just get the number on radio and call to know whether the number is working, not complaints.

“When we talk about the real calls receive and actions taken, we can put them at 40,000”.

New year: Help protect public assets

- Minister charges residents

money which otherwise would have been invested in other equally essential projects.

According to him, in the preceding year, the FCT Administration consolidated on its efforts of providing world class infrastructure for the Territory with efforts to complete on-going projects and investing heavily in the maintenance and upgrading of existing ones.

In a similar vein, the Minister solicited residents’ cooperation and support, as the government continues the task of removing illegal structures and settlements within the city, both for security purposes and maintaining the sanctity of the Abuja Masterplan. “It must be understood that these corrective measures are absolutely essential if truly our city is to evolve into one of the most aesthetically pleasing and functional cities in the world. The presence of illegal settlements and shanties will only draw us further away from attaining this goal.

“I must therefore extend our appreciation to residents for their understanding despite the discomforts they must have endured in the course of our remedial measures. I hereby call for your continuous support and cooperation.

“Please be reminded that the maintenance of security is the responsibility of all. I wish once more to reiterate the mantra of saying ‘something when you see something’.

“I wish also to commend the security agencies in the FCT for the tremendous work they have been doing in ensuring the safety of lives and property within the Territory as the incidences of violent crimes have witnessed a decline over the past few months.

“Some of these gallant men and women who have seen to this possibility have even paid the ultimate price in the course of discharging their responsibilities.

“I wish to reassure them of the continuous support of the Administration as demonstrated with the provision of 60 highcapacity vehicles in addition to accompanying security and communication equipment last year”, the Minister stressed.

FCTA moves to recover N29BN grand rent debt via court

By Stanley Onyekwere

There is clear indications that the Coordinating Committee on the Recovery of Outstanding Ground Rent and Other Related Charges in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is set to begin massive legal action will begin in the first quarter of 2023, so as to ensure that all debtors are brought to face justice and perhaps, have their property forfeited.

The Committee announced that it will not hesitate to institute the mass prosecution of titleholders, for allegedly refusing to pay their debt, despite several appeals for them to come forward and clear the outstanding liabilities.

It noted that since some of the Ground Rent debtors are recalcitrant in paying their prescribed fees, as the Committee has no other option than to take this legal procedure, which might culminate into final confiscation of the affected property.

In a recent statement from Director, Information & Communication, FCT / Chairman, Media & Publicity Sub-Committee,Muhammad Hazat Sule, the Committee reiterated that it intends to consider publishing names of all those, who have refused to honour their statutory obligation by clearing their outstanding liabilities, especially those whose cases are before the appropriate court of law.

It explains: “The publication of the names of the debtors already charged to court, the Committee believes will send a strong message to other defaulters that the FCT Administration is determined to recover the huge debt owed it by property owners in the Territory. “It will be recalled that caveat has also been placed to deny such titleholders access to the property, and eventually forfeit same to the government.

“Accordingly, the caveat formally placed is expected to safeguard such properties from being tampered with, especially by attempting to sell or transfer ownership, because the matter is being heard in court.

“The forfeiture of the property of those that refused to clear their debts is also of importance to the FCT Administration, because such actions will serve as deterrent to all those recalcitrant to honour their obligations”. According to the statement, “the FCT Administration is determined to recover all Ground Rent debts owed by property owners in Abuja, and all necessary procedures will be followed to achieve this.

“It would be recalled that the FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr. Adesola Olusade inaugurated a debt recovery committee with the mandate to recover the outstanding debts owed the FCT Administration with a particular interest in ground rents and other sundry fees in the Land Administration as well as other Land related departments”.