The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Monday sealed off several major properties in Abuja, including the headquarters of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Access Bank, and Total Energy, over long-standing ground rent debts.
According to the Director of Land at the FCTA, Mr. Chijoke Nwankwoeze, the enforcement marks the beginning of a wider exercise to reclaim over 4,794 properties whose land titles were revoked earlier this year due to unpaid rent.
He explained that the FIRS building in Wuse Zone 5 has not paid ground rent for 25 years. Similarly, the Access Bank building, located on Plot No. 2456, Wuse I, and registered under Rana Tahir Furniture Nigeria Ltd, has defaulted for 34 years.
“These properties have now reverted to the FCTA. We are taking possession as allowed by the law,” Nwankwoeze said.
Also affected is a property belonging to Total PLC, located on Plot 534, Cadastral Zone A02, Wuse Zone 1. It was sealed earlier in the day for failure to pay ground rent for more than 10 years.
Director of Development Control, Mr. Mukhtar Galadima, said the operation is part of a broader plan to recover land and revenue lost due to widespread non-compliance.
“In March, we announced the revocation of over 4,000 plots due to non-payment of rent. Today’s action is the beginning of taking back those properties,” Galadima stated.
The FCTA has warned that more properties will be sealed in the coming weeks as it intensifies efforts to recover outstanding rent debts running into billions of naira.
