Politicians taking credit for private infrastructure in Abuja, says developer

An Abuja-based property developer, Perfect Estate Developers Limited has raised the alarm that politicians have begun to take credit for privately built infrastructure in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Dayo Babatunde, an architect, in a chat with newsmen last week, said the access road to his Perfect Estate in Kuje, has been linked to politicians and being showcased as part of their projects to undiscerning citizens.

Asked whether some politicians have begun to take credit for the N200 million access road to his 600 units estate, Babatunde said “We are here to state it clearly that we did the road for the benefit of mankind.”

Responding to a question on why his company had to take the burden of building road infrastructure upon itself, he said it would be futile waiting for government to do so.

He lamented that the burden of obtaining a N200 million loan to construct the access road could have been taken off his company’s shoulder had government yielded to the call for provision of infrastructure in the area.

According to him, several efforts have been made to get the authorities to construct the road but have yielded no result.

He said: “The financial aspect was also a challenge. Out of the fund we are using to do the project itself, is what we are also injecting into road construction. Without a good access road, marketing the estate becomes a big challenge. We are also under pressure to make the road a reality; this has affected our finances.”

Babatunde, who called on government to support estate developers by providing infrastructure, also pointed out that doing so would open up sites for would-be developers with a view to making houses available and affordable for the teeming masses.