Wike: Enforcement of ground rent payment in Abuja will begin next week

Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has announced that enforcement of ground rent payment in Abuja will begin next week.

Speaking with journalists on Thursday, Wike expressed frustration over what he described as a persistent culture of disobedience to simple regulations in the capital city.

He said the administration had given defaulters ample time to comply but many still refused to meet their obligations.

“The other time we were trying to do enforcement. After intervention, we gave them three weeks,” he said.

“Now it’s about five months. Nobody has complied. But from next week, we will enforce it. Let heaven come down now.”

Wike said land revocations carried out under his administration were strictly based on non-compliance with governance requirements, particularly failure to pay ground rent or develop allocated plots.

“I’ve never revoked any land on public policy and go and give it to somebody. I don’t do that,” he said.

“But if I revoke on your non-compliance with the governance, you don’t pay a ground rent or you kept the land for years without development, I have a right to revoke it and to give to anybody or company who wants to develop it.”

He criticised residents who expect government services without contributing to revenue generation.

“Everybody wants the road here and there but nobody is asking, where do you get the money from?” he said.

“People talk about sanitation and say Abuja is dirty… government should come and carry the waste without you paying. Everything is free in this country, or you want it to be free.”