C of O debt by Abuja property owners exceeds N300b – Wike

Certificate of Occupancy debts owed by property owners in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have accumulated to N300 billion.

This revelation was made by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, during a media chat in Nigeria’s capital city on Sunday.

The minister attributed this to the lack of compliance by property owners in the FCT and weak enforcement mechanisms by previous administrations.

“When we calculated the money owed by individuals, not including ground rent but the Certificates of Occupancy (C of O), it exceeded N300 billion.

“If we manage to recover that N300 billion today, you could travel to America and return in six months, and you would see that the FCT is a completely transformed place,” said Wike.

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He added that his administration had begun implementing measures to ensure the debts were recovered.

While speaking on revenue generation in the FCT, the minister noted that the FCT’s revenue has exponentially increased since the inception of his administration.

“When I came, we were generating about N9 to N10 billion monthly. Today we are not generating less than N25 billion. In fact, last month we were able to generate over N40 billion,” he said.

“How do we generate funds without taxes and ground rents? The question residents should ask is whether they are seeing their money working for them. Yes, we are justifying that C of O debts.”