Land Revocation: Wike’s Aide Says PDP Elders To Blame For Non-payment Of Ground Rent

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) elders like Chief Bode George, should be blamed for the party’s failure to pay Ground Rent for 28 years, which is the reason for the revocation of the PDP’s national secretariat land in Abuja, Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, has said.

Olayinka, however, exonerated his principal, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike.

The Minister’s media aide said in a statement in Abuja on Saturday that it was funny that Chief Bode George, who was in the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) that failed to conclude the purchase of the Wadata Plaza National Secretariat of the PDP, could come to national television to say “Wike has crossed the red line by revoking the PDP’s national secretariat in Abuja.”

Chief Bode George had said during an interview on a television station on Friday that Wike’s action was an open declaration of war against the PDP.

But, responding, Wike’s media aide Olayinka said it was painful that elders like Chief Bode George could chose to play the ostrich on a matter so glaring as the revocation of 4,794 land titles for not paying Ground Rent for as much as 43 years.

He asked; “Why didn’t the PDP pay Ground Rent for 20 years on its Plot No. 243 national secretariat (under construction), which is the only property belonging to the party among the 4,794 revoked titles? How’s government’s enforcement of the consequences of land title owners’ refusal to pay Ground Rent declaration of war? Should the FCTA under Wike have treated PDP differently from the 4,794 owners of land titles that were revoked over failure to pay Ground Rent?”

While clarifying that the Wadata Plaza property being currently used as Secretariat by the PDP was not owned by the party, Olayinka said the property belonged to Senator Samaila Mamman Kurfi, who bought it from Wadata Enterprises Nigeria Limited.

“The PDP offered to buy the Wadata Plaza property in 2005, and when the Minister’s Consent was sought, the party was asked to pay N26.9 million. The money was never paid.

“The party wrote a letter to Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the FCT Minister then, to waive the payment, claiming that it lacked the financial capacity to pay, but he (El-Rufai) insisted the party must pay.

“El-Rufai, who insisted PDP must do the right thing by paying the necessary fees to the government was a member of the party then, and Chief Bode George, who was in the PDP NWC, did not go to national television to accuse him (El-Rufai) of declaring war against the party. And if the owner did not pay ordinary N2.8 million as 28 years Ground Rent, who is to blame?

“On the PDP national secretariat at Central Area, is it the fault of Wike that a mere N7.6 million, was owed as 20 years Ground Rent despite that over N21 billion was raised in 2014 for the completion of the building?”

While counseling Chief Bode George to start functioning like an objective elder that he should be, the FCT Minister’s Spokesperson said: “what should have been done was to seek information, rather than going on television to advertise hatred against a Minister who is simply doing his jobs without looking at people’s faces.

“If Chief Bode George had sought necessary information and refrained himself from acting out of hatred for Wike, it would have been known to him that also affected by the revocation were government owned institutions like Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Borno State Government, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), National Universities Commission (NUC), Kaduna State Government, Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, University of Calabar and Nigerian Postal Service and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

“And like I asked earlier, if Chief Bode George were to be the FCT Minister, would he have treated PDP differently from the other 4,793 land title owners?”

On loyalty and commitment to the PDP, Olayinka said the results in Wike’s Rivers State and Chief Bode George’s Lagos State from 1998 till date were clear for everyone to see and use as yardstick to determine who is more loyal and committed to the party.