The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has ordered the immediate demolition of houses built on designated water channels in Maitama and other flood-prone areas of Abuja.
Wike gave the directive on Tuesday after inspecting areas affected by recent flooding in Maitama, saying the demolition would commence immediately and continue until Saturday, irrespective of ongoing political activities or the status of the owners of the affected properties.
He warned that the FCT Administration would no longer tolerate the obstruction of waterways by property owners, stressing that all structures found to have been built on designated water channels would be demolished.
“We will demolish all those houses found on the water channel. Some of them are senators. Some of them are big men.
“Whether there’s an election or there’s no election, all those houses will go down. Heaven will not fall. Rather, heaven will be at peace that the right thing has been done,” he said.
The minister said the recent flooding had exposed several human activities contributing to flooding in the nation’s capital, including construction on waterways, blockage of drainage channels, indiscriminate dumping of refuse and inadequate supervision of developments.
According to him, inspections of affected areas showed that some property owners had blocked channels designated in the Abuja Master Plan for the passage of stormwater.
“Unfortunately, we have gone there, and we have seen how people have blocked channels where, in the Master Plan, that is the right way where the water is supposed to be channelled,” he said.
Wike said many of the affected properties belonged to wealthy Nigerians and had existed for several years, stressing that social status would not prevent the enforcement of development regulations.
“All those built-up areas that were not supposed to be built up , not a single poor person will live there. Those houses are houses built by well-to-do Nigerians,” he said.
The minister said previous administrations might not have had the political will to enforce the regulations, while some officials may have failed to discharge their responsibilities effectively.
He, however, said the present administration had the political will to address the problem.
“And let nobody make the mistake that this government lacks the political will to do anything. The person must be making a very big mistake,” Wike said.
He also rejected attempts to politicise the recent flooding, saying flooding was not peculiar to Abuja and could result from both natural and human factors.
Wike attributed part of the recent heavy rainfall to climate change but stressed that human activities had significantly worsened the situation.
“We are in a climate change period. The kind of rains we have experienced, or we are experiencing now, we have not experienced before. But that is not that there are no man-made factors. There are,” he said.
He identified the construction of buildings on waterways, development in prohibited areas, failure to desilt drainage systems and indiscriminate disposal of waste as major contributors to flooding.
The minister consequently directed relevant FCT authorities to commence the immediate desilting of identified drainage channels.
“The facility management is not here. The director is not here. Yes, we have to immediately start desilting some of the areas we have identified,” he said.
He also appealed to residents, traders and other members of the public to stop dumping refuse into drainage channels.
Wike dismissed criticism of the administration’s handling of the flooding, saying he would not be distracted by political considerations.
He maintained that the FCT Administration had recorded significant achievements in the past three years, while acknowledging that several challenges remained.
“Nobody can diminish what this administration has done in the past three years. Nobody can diminish it,” he said.
The minister also highlighted the administration’s record in the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-Os), saying 26,272 certificates had been signed within the past three years, compared with about 7,000 issued by two previous administrations over 13 years.
Wike said the demolition exercise would proceed despite concerns that it could be politically motivated because of the election season.
He directed the FCT Development Control Department to ensure that there was no delay in enforcing the order.
“From today to Saturday, if Development Control delays, let them find any excuse to run away. They cannot,” he warned.
The minister also directed the authorities to protect designated green areas in the capital from unauthorised development.
He said the administration would continue to enforce planning regulations, regardless of how long illegal structures had existed.
“Something that was done wrongly will not be corrected? No, we will not allow that. We won’t,” he said.
Wike said the FCT Administration would remain focused on addressing challenges in the capital and urged residents to continue drawing the government’s attention to problems in their communities.
“My interest is we’ll continue to do the right thing in FCT, where no one will stop,” he said.
