ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike has ignited a firestorm of criticism after announcing a 30-day ultimatum for property owners to reverse land use violations or face a \u20a65 million fine and additional penalties. The directive, which includes a 7.5% surcharge on the Assessed Capital Value of affected properties, has drawn backlash from residents and civil society groups who accuse the minister of wielding power with little regard for due process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wike, speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, defended the move as a necessary step to restore order and generate revenue for infrastructure projects. \u201cWe are looking for money to carry on projects. If you fall into our trap, it is your business,\u201d he said, warning that non-compliant landowners risk title revocation and resale. But critics say the language and tone of the announcement reflect a troubling shift toward authoritarian governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is not governance; it\u2019s extortion,\u201d said Ibrahim Musa, a business owner in Gwarinpa whose property was flagged for non-compliant use. \u201cWe were never consulted. Now we\u2019re being threatened with multimillion-naira fines and demolition. It\u2019s like living under a dictatorship.\u201d Other residents expressed fear and confusion over the sudden enforcement. \u201cI\u2019ve lived here for 12 years. No one ever told me my land use was wrong,\u201d said Grace Okonkwo, a widow in Kubwa. \u201cNow I\u2019m expected to pay millions or lose my home?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legal experts have also raised concerns about the constitutionality of the directive. \u201cThe Land Use Act provides for enforcement, but not arbitrary fines without a transparent hearing,\u201d said Barrister Chinedu Eze, a property rights advocate. \u201cThis sets a dangerous precedent for executive overreach.\u201d Some activists are calling for a judicial review of the policy and urging the National Assembly to intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the backlash, Wike has shown no signs of backing down. His administration insists the crackdown is part of a broader effort to sanitize the FCT and reclaim illegally converted plots. But with mounting public anger and threats of legal action, the minister may soon face more than just land disputes \u2014 he could be battling a full-blown political crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike has ignited a firestorm of criticism after announcing a 30-day ultimatum for property owners to reverse land use violations or face a \u20a65 million fine and additional penalties. The directive, which includes a 7.5% surcharge on the Assessed Capital Value of affected properties, has drawn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wike-FCT-looking-mean.jpeg?fit=650%2C346&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20637,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20630\/revisions\/20637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}