The Peoples Democratic Party’s allegation that its property title was withdrawn as a strategy to quell resistance has been denied by Federal Capital Territory Minister Mr. Nyesom Wike.
Wike said this on Friday when members of the Body of Benchers, led by Chairman Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, visited Abuja.
Wike, a life bencher as well, expressed shock at the PDP’s claim that he had been told to cancel the party’s land title in Abuja’s Central Area in order to quell resistance.
He emphasised that every executive decision in the nation was frequently associated with political, religious, and ethnic feelings.
According to him, it is frequently misunderstood as a political attempt to revoke the property titles of allottees who have not paid the required ground rent for more than ten years.
While building its National Secretariat in the Central Area, Wike noted that the PDP had been in power for a number of years but was unable to pay the N7.6 million ground rent for its land title.
He pointed out that the PDP had not paid the N7.6 million ground rent, even though the sale of party forms had brought in between N13 billion and N20 billion.
Additionally, Wike clarified that the Wadata Plaza, which housed the PDP’s National Secretariat, was registered under an Abuja-based senator rather than the party.
Although the PDP complained that the minister was targeting its secretariat, he pointed out that the registered owner had not paid the ground rent for 28 years.
“Maybe they had a deal with the man and did not complete the deed of assignment and were shouting oh, they sent Wike to revoke the land as a ploy to kill opposition.
“What kind of mentality is that?” Wike asked.
He stressed that the revocation of land was not unique to the PDP, noting that people and other organisations, including the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Independent National Electoral Commission, had also had their land titles revoked for the same reason.
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He said that CBN had been pleading for the reversal of the land title, “but I told the bank to pay the outstanding ground rent before the revocation is reversed.”
Wike also cautioned that no land allottee who defaulted would be spared and asked the Body of Benchers to make sure they paid their ground rent.
According to a report by The Intercept, on March 17, 2025, it authorised the revocation of 4,794 land titles that affected people, businesses, and government entities because they had not paid ground rent for more than ten years.
