The Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike has vowed to enforce the payment of ground rent in Abuja without considering any further extension of time.
Wike on Monday disclosed that having given enough time to defaulters, there may not be any other consideration other than to recover the properties of those who failed to comply back to the government.
The Minister said this when he inspected some road projects in Wuse and Lifecamp areas of Abuja.
According to him, after the two-week Presidential grace periods granted to defaulters four months ago elapsed, there would be no more opportunity for defaulters.
He lamented that Nigerians are averse to doing the right thing, until there is a strong will to enforce the laws.
The Minister said, “It’s unfortunate that most Nigerians who complain don’t want to abide by the rules. You realize that when we started this enforcement, we also had a presidential intervention to give them two, three weeks more. But it’s more than four months now and we cannot carry out projects without people paying their taxes.
“We did also make publications about extending the deadline and of course, you know they like to rush. If you don’t go and enforce it, nobody will pay. So, we believe that this is the last time. We are not going to extend any further”, he said.
He further explained that the FCT administration’s officials will seal up the premises of defaulters, while the properties will revert back to the FCT Administration.
“If you have not paid, we will seal up the premises and the property then becomes the property of the FCT Administration”, he said.
