Reps to investigate alleged Abuja land allocation fraud
The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate all land allocations in the Minister of the FCT from May 29, 2023, to August 21, 2023.
The resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion by Jonathan Gbefwi (APC-Nasarawa) on Thursday in Abuja.
Moving the motion, Mr Gbefwi explained that by section 297 of the Constitution, the ownership of all lands in the FCT is vested in the federal government.
He said that section 302 of the Constitution provides that the president may appoint a minister who shall exercise powers and perform such functions as may be delegated to him.
Mr Gbefwi said, “Aware that President Bola Tinubu was sworn on Monday, May 29 2023 and the current minister of FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, assumed office as the FCT minister on the August 21, 2023.
“Observed that in the period May 29, 2023, to August 21, 2023, several title documents on land in the FCT were issued to some real estate developers in a highly suspicious manner.
“I wonder if the director of Lands or any official of Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) issued Right of Ownership (R of O) purportedly in the name of the FCT minister at the period when the office of the minister was vacant.”
The lawmaker said some of the lands affected were subject to litigations which were yet to be resolved.
According to him, some of the beneficiaries of these alleged fraudulent allocations already use them to forcibly grab disputed land, which is a recipe for conflict.
He added that if the title document of any land was fraudulently issued or procured, it should not stand in the public’s interest.
The parliament recommended that all such lands subject to litigation or multiple allocations be identified and their allocation withdrawn by the minister pending the resolution of the matter.
In his ruling, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu mandated that the relevant committees investigate and report to the parliament within four weeks.
(NAN)
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