….. Defends demolition of illegal structures
By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Muhammad Musa Bello has denied having interest in the court case which led to the cancellation of the inauguration of the newly elected Abuja Area Council Chairmen a day to the event.
Recall that he was joined in the case while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) were excluded.
Bello who briefed State House Correspondents on Thursday at Presidential Villa, Abuja, said he has no reason to get involved in the case as the federal government which he is a serving minister under President Muhammadu Buhari is known to be a government which believes so much in the rule of law hence as a law-abiding citizen he has to obey the court judgment.
Said he: “With regards to the Area Council elections that took place and the court cases. I want to emphatically say that obviously, for those of you who know me, I follow the rule of law. And this government is a government of rule of law.
“So you can be rest assured that the FCTA had nothing to do with the court case at all. It doesn’t make sense for us to superintend over an electoral process that was ajudged very transparent and we were able to commended because during that area council elections we lost some, we won some.
“Tell me any Area Council or Local Government Area in Nigeria where the sitting government lost an election. Even if there are, we can count them on our fingers, that shows you that the FCT administration, and by extension, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is law abiding, we allowed for free and fair election and that’s exactly what happened.
Speaking further the minister also said: “And like any election, there are those who feel aggrieved. So they went to court, and the court gave a judgement and as a law abiding government, we honoured the court judgment and that’s a natural thing to do.
“I think it is unthinkable for me as a sitting minister in the federal government of Nigeria in 2022 to flout a court judgment, it doesn’t make sense. So now what we are doing is we are awaiting the outcome of the cases in the court. And at the end of the day, as a law abiding administration, whatever the court says we move on, because the whole idea is elections are overdone. What we are to concentrate on now is governance”.
In another development the FCT Minister has explained why his administration is continuing the policy of demolition of illegal structures in Abuja despite his earlier position not to be associated with the demolition of houses in FCT.
Bello posited that the need to enforce the law which prohibits the distortion of the Abuja Masterplan necessitated the on-going demolition of illegal structures including the estates belonging to the government owned Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Estates in Abuja.
Said he:”Maybe, I need to clarify my comment on demolitions and put it in the proper context. What I was saying is that it’s unfair for the general public to rate ministers based on destruction and demolition of properties in FCT.
“So that is the main context I said it and I was bashed because I was not demolishing houses in FCT. And what I told you, was that I and my team felt that let’s empower the institutions that were supposed to do all this to make sure that they prevent illegal buildings from even coming up, so that you don’t need to demolish them.
“But having said that, of course we are demolishing and we will continue to demolish. As a matter of fact, as we are seated here today (Thursday) our team demolished somewhere already today.
“And these things will continue because no matter how you try, there are those who still would not want to follow regulations, but now I think our team have been out there, trying to explain to people. And certain demolitions are just almost inevitable”.
Bello therefore revealed such things that will lead to houses to be demolished, pointing out that except the people do the right thing they will suffer the consequences.
Said he: “For instance, you have to demolish illegal buildings along waterways. This is because when a flash flood comes the enormous power of running water during a flash flood is something that most people don’t know but you’ve seen it, can you raise a motorway with all the weight of the motorway.
“So what we’ve done is we need to save lives. And that’s why we continue to demolish and we have to construct a road made for hundreds of thousands.
“And somebody decides, without seeking appropriate approval, to go and build on the middle of the road. So are you going to make a detour in respect of one person to the detriment of hundreds of thousands or are you going just move it away.
“So this is the why, it’s a fact of life and it is a two way thing. We try to encourage people to follow the rules and regulations because it’s all there.
“And then of course, if you go on the wrong side of the law we move on because as public officials were empowered and we have a duty, as a matter of fact a moral obligation to do what is right for the largest number of people and that’s what has really always guided me as a public officer.
“You don’t look at individuals, you don’t look at class, you don’t look at group look. No, you do what is going to be beneficial to the largest number of people and that’s what we’ve been doing”, he argued.
Asked what his administration is doing about the several unoccupied completed estates in Abuja while the residents are suffering accommodation problems, Bello explained that alot of factors are responsible.
He said several unoccupied estates in Abuja is something that arose because to a very large extent, while many people wanted to go into mass housing, they didn’t do their research properly.
“Several unoccupied estates in Abuja is something that arose because to a very large extent, while many people wanted to go into mass housing, I think they didn’t do their research properly.
“For instance, you go and build a duplex in a place that is far from town.You make a six bedroom, all en-suite in a barrack-like setting and you expect somebody to go and pay hundreds of millions or at least tens of millions to buy it.
“So I think the pricing and the this thing with the benefit of hindsight had showed that it was very…you know, so that’s why most of them were not occupied. Now what we’ve done is the whole idea of mass housing was that investors will be given land where they will develop houses and provide the internal infrastructure, while the FCT Administration provides the connected infrastructure.
“But the rate at which these houses came up far outstrip the capacity and the financial ability of the administration, ours and the subsequent ones. And that’s why part of the bashing I get, especially from those property developers is that I’ve been extremely stingy with land allocation.
” And I felt that it doesn’t make sense for us to give you land in an area where we know that it will take 10 to 15 years for us to provide infrastructure. That way people will go and take loans.
“They sell houses to off takers, some of them in the diaspora and then you build houses that people are unable to occupy. And then of course, you take a typical Maitama, Asokoro design and you put it in a satellite town, you expect that somebody will move and go buy it there.
“So as time went by you can see now most of the developments are modular, there are terrace like buildings, and now instead of massive estates, you’ll find that the lands are maybe in manageable lots, one hectare two hectares, five hectares in areas where there’s accessibility. you know all these things has to evolve with time.
“City officials learn from their mistakes, investors learn from their mistakes and along the line, somehow we’ll all go and converge. But I believe it will work out fine. Eventually”, he concluded.
