FCT minister Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday, gave a final warning to defaulters of ground rent payment in Abuja, insisting that something would happen.

Mr Wike gave the warning when the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), led by its president, Chris Isiguzo, visited him in Abuja.

The minister said “something will surely happen,” stressing that his ground rent directive was not an empty threat.

“The law has been there before I came. The only problem is applying the law. The minister of state and I have the capacity and political will to do what is right. You know Nigerians are funny, believing that nothing will happen,” Mr Wike explained. “Something will happen. We can’t continue that way; we can’t.”

The FCT Administration in September published land titles of individuals, organisations, and agencies owing ground rent.

In the publication, the FCTA reminded allottees of lands within Abuja of their obligations as stipulated in the Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) to pay in advance without demand from January 1 of each year.

The FCTA had warned that a breach or failure to comply with any or all of the terms stated in the Rights of Occupancy would be liable to the revocation of the title.

The administration, therefore, advised all allottees, property owners, and beneficiaries of the sale of federal government houses in Abuja to settle their outstanding ground rents or lose their titles.

By revoking such plots, Mr Wike told the defaulters that he would match his words with action at the end of the grace period.

“We have given defaulters a final notice to go and pay, and they said it is initial ‘gragra’. Something will happen. By the time we give the final notice, and you don’t pay, the law will be applied,” he said.

He added that the FCTA was able to save significant internally generated revenue since the administration’s removal from the Treasury Single Account, adding that the era of abandoned projects in the FCT was over. He explained that some of the hash decisions the FCTA took were for the good of all in the long run, adding that the government would step on toes in the efforts to right the wrongs in Abuja.

Mr Wike pledged continued support to the media as critical partners in the development space.

The procedure for paying the ground rent is e-payment through the REMITA portal to generate a REMITA Retrieval Reference (RRR). Affected persons are expected to log onto the REMITA portal to register to pay.

(NAN)