The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says the FCT Administration will deal squarely with land grabbers, no matter how highly- placed.

Wike gave the warning when officials of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), FCT Chapter, visited him in Abuja on Thursday.

“Land grabbing is not new. Some of your people are part of it, some staff of FCT are part of it.

“As a government, we will do all we can to see that we deal squarely with anybody that is involved, no matter how highly- placed he or she might be.

“It is  a terrible situation we found ourselves in. People grabbing land; people illegally acquiring land, just for the purpose of becoming rich overnight,” the minister said.

He pointed out that everyday ,people write  the FCTA, demanding for land allocation to develop a certain number of houses in the city.

He, however, said that many people were doing that just to obtain a land title and at the end of the day, nothing was developed.

“They will do all they can; take our land and sell it to people for development.

“For me, that is not helping us to reduce the housing deficit, no. That is just a way of taking government land and enriching yourselves at the expense of the government,” he said.

The minister added, “Yes government cannot sell land, so why will the government give out land for the purpose of housing estate and then you are selling the land?

“The government can as well sell the land itself if that is the case.”

Wike said that to address the challenge, the FCTA had decided that developers must show financial capacity before a land would be allocated to them in FCT.

He added that a reputable commercial bank must also write an undertaking that the developer has the financial capacity for such development.

“Two, you will write an undertaking that the project will commence and be completed within a specified time without any condition attached to it.

“Three, that failure to develop the land, the government is entitled to take back its land.It does not matter what form of development you are putting there.

“If that is done, then we will be convinced and give you our land allocation with proper documentation,” he said.

He said that the  measures were necessary to ensure that developers do not steal from the government in the name of development.

The minister said that there were currently over 1000 litigations in different courts over land matters, with kore being recorded on daily basis.

The minister also berated real estate developers for not meeting up to their obligations to the government, particularly in the payment of taxes relating to land.

“Even when you sell your properties, you don’t remit part of which belongs to the government.

“So, I want to partner with you but on good faith, not partnership that one party would be detrimental to the other, no. It has to be mutual and symbiotic,” Wike said.

Earlier, REDAN Chairman, Dr Ehikioya Okoruwa, assured Wike of the association’s readiness to partner the FCTA to bridge housing deficits in the territory.

Okoruwa said that to that end, the association planned to build 15,000 houses.

He further said that REDAN would invest N262 billion in the housing sector, adding that the FCTA would gain a lot  if they supported the project.

Okoruwa  said that REDAN was working with security agencies to address land racketeering, emphasising the association’s commitment to ethical practices and accountability.

“This meeting sets the stage for a potential partnership between the FCT Administration and REDAN, but with clear terms and expectations for accountability and transparency,” he said.

A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday dismissed a suit seeking to restrain the Federal Government (FG) from securitising the sum of N22.7 trillion Ways and Means Loan support it got from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Justice James Omotosho, in a judgment, held that the plaintiffs lacked locus standi (legal right) to institute the case.

Justice Omotosho further held that where the plaintiffs had the locus standi to file the suit, they had failed to prove same

The plaintiffs; Justin Edim and Akinfewa Akinwunmi, had sued President Bola Tinubu, Federal Government of Nigeria, CBN and Ministry of Finance as 1st to 4th defendants.

Others in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1286/2023, are Debt Management Office (DMO), National Assembly and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) as 5th to 7th defendants respectively.

The plaintiffs, through their counsel, Victor Opatola, had said that they initiated the legal action on behalf of themselves and other Nigerian citizens.

They specifically asked the court to stop the conversion of the debt to a promissory note or any other promise to pay at a future date or securitisation by ways of issuance of treasury bills, bonds or other forms of security.

In December 2022, the FG had requested the 9th National Assembly for permission to securitise the debts they had incurred from the CBN over the years.

The plaintiffs, therefore, claimed that the series of loans secured from the CBN had amounted to N23.7 trillion, and that the FG was planning to restructure the loans to something that could be traded.

They further stated that the FG had over the years secured various loans from the CBN under the Ways and Means provision of Section 38 of the CBN Act in contravention of relevant laws which stipulated that the total amount the FG could borrow shall not at any time exceed five per cent of the previous year’s revenue of the FG.

They averred that recently, the Ways and Means debt of N22.7 trillion was decided to be converted into bond (promissory note) contrary to Section 38(3)(b) of the CBN Act.

The plaintiffs accordingly want the court to declare that the effect of securitising the Ways and Means debt would adversely affect the plaintiffs and millions of Nigerians, as well as rob them of the true worth of their savings and further drive Nigerians below poverty line.

“That by securing the Ways and Means Debt, the government will be putting too much money in the money market which naturally increases liquidity in the Nigerian economy which pen-ultimately skyrocket inflation in Nigeria.

“That unless the respondents are compelled by an injunction of this honourable court, it will continue to take steps in variance with the law and continue in its efforts to securitise the Ways and Means loan; which if completed and bought by Nigerians and investors might become irreversible,” they said.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Omotosho struck out the name of the National Assembly from the suit, the plaintiffs, having breached the condition precedence of filing a pre-action notice on the legislature three months before filing the suit.

On whether the plaintiffs had the legal right to have filed the suit, the judge said though the plaintiffs claimed that they filed the matter on behalf of the masses, he held that the instant case was not a fundamental enforcement rights suit.

He said the claim that the suit was brought on behalf of the public was, therefore, incomprehensible.

The judge then asked whether there was any public forum where the plaintiffs brought the people together or conducted a poll to gather their opinions and views before commencing the action.

He said the plaintiffs had not shown to the court how the Ways and Means bill affected their personal rights.

He said that having failed to show how this affected them personally, they had no right to file on Nigerians’ behalf.

“The need to have requisite locus standi is to prevent all kinds of suits.

“The case is hereby dismissed for lack of locus standi,” he declared.

Justice Omotosho further held that even if the plaintiffs had had locus, the exhibits attached to their court processes were not certified true copies (CTCs).

According to the judge, the plaintiffs only come with a printout of an online newspaper as evidence before the court.

He said that the only admissible copy of a newspaper printout would have been to certify the photocopy of same.

“You cannot just printout or buy a newspaper from a newspaper vendor and brought it to court.

“it must be certified by the National Library by virtue of Section 84 of Evidence Act, 2011.

“Where a public document is ought to be tendered, only the certified true copy will be admissible,” he said.

The judge, who said that the court cannot rely on downloaded documents as being genuine, said it is either the original copy or the CTC.

He restated that a public document must be certified to be admissible before a court.

Justice Omotosho, who said that the suit was full of speculation and rumour, expunged the exhibits from the court file.

According to him the court does not rely on speculation.

The judge, consequently, dismissed the suit for lack of locus standi.

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has restated its commitment to enhance production of Nigeria’s branded products, technology transfer domestication, commercialisation and stimulation of indigenous socio-economic advancement.

Its Executive Vice Chairman, Mr Khalil Halilu, said this on Thursday while unveiling NASENI’s branded products at the agency’s quarterly media briefing in Abuja.

The new products include car battery, laptop, smartphone and Solar-powered street light.

Halilu said that the feats were recorded in line with the agency’s 2023-2027 strategic launchpad to fit into the “Renewed Hope Agenda” of the present administration.

He said the launchpad was to enhance Nigeria’s manufacturing capacity, reduce the country’s import bill, reposition the agency to leverage on the comparative advantage of the 36 states.

The NASENI boss said the agency was working assiduously to bring in more products to create a national brand that every Nigerian would love to see.

He said that the agency embarked upon in its launchpad to improve the livelihood of Nigerians and foster national development.

“What we are trying to do is to open our doors to people that will contribute to our activities and development of our nation.

Halilu said that the areas of focus of the strategic launchpad were agriculture and food manufacturing, defense and aerospace, sustainable transportation and mobility.

He said others included renewable energy and sustainability, health and biotechnology, information technology and software, construction and smart city.

NASENI boss also presented the agency’s proposal evaluation portal, a website for those who intend to work with the agency.

He said the NASENI Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) would soon be launched for task tracing within the agency.

He said that the agency’s e-procurement portal, an initiative in the launchpad, was to enhance transparency.

According to him, the NASENI youth empowerment programme consists of schemes with the prospect of creating 18,000 direct jobs.

He said the vehicles to drive the project included skills acquisition centres, trainings, stem box innovation hub and campus.

The EVC said the work of Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT) and the Delt-Her initiative programme was geared towards encouraging female participation in the engineering sector.

He added that the agency also trained 20 Nigerian engineers in Indonesia on equipment fabrication under the agency’s full acquisition saputra coal fertilizer project.

NAN recalls that in February, the agency launched three sets of its branded products which were solar powered irrigation system, electric motorcycles and tricycles, and off-grid solar home systems.