The Aso Rock Presidential Villa and the location of some military barracks in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been described as violating the Abuja original master plan.

A source, however, informed The Guardian that nothing that can be done at this stage to correct the issue.

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai raised the issue some years ago when he was the FCT minister.
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Yesterday at a press conference, the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) through its President, Luka Bulu Achi said the implementation of the Abuja master plan had been a major challenge as past administrations had distorted the plan.

Achi explained that the areas where military barracks are located are supposed to be buffer zones and central parks that would shield the city from heat.

According to him: “The whole areas where you have the barracks were not supposed to be there. Those areas are supposed to be buffer zones. Even the dam that should supply water to the city has been blocked. They have changed the entire concept.

“The area you call Asokoro is not supposed to be there. Everybody wants to live in Maitama or Asokoro. These are the changes that past leaders kept introducing without the review of the master plan. In the 90s a workshop was held to review what has happened. We did a lot and that was where it ended. Subsequently, El-Rufai came and said look, we need to reverse what has happened, it created another crisis.”

Achi, who called for the review of the Abuja master plan pointed out the FCT at conception was designed to accommodate about 3.5 million people but that the city now has over 6.5 million inhabitants.