Nysom Wike, the fiery former governor of Rivers State, has come out with a strident voice and wrecking ball to demolish illegal structures, in his first outing, following his swearing-in as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Wike came out with a sharp warning to landlords of properties distorting the Abuja Master Plan, Monday, mere moments after being sworn into office by President Bola Akmed Tinubu.
“All those people who are distorting the master plan of Abuja, too bad. If you know you have built where you’re not supposed to build, it will go down,” Wike said during a press conference in Abuja on Monday, moments after taking his oath of office at the State House.
Wike said there would be no sacred cows and that he did not care whose ox would be gored in his drive to clean up the Federal Capital Territory and make good on his new assignment
He said that for anyone who has developed where they are not supposed to, even if the culprit is a minister or an ambassador, “your house must go down”.
He further attested that he was committed to reinstalling the breached “green areas” to the city, and warned adventurers who had taken over those spaces to prepare to be cleared out.
“If you hate green, you must hate yourself. So, if you know you have anybody involved that has taken over the green areas or has taken over the parks to where you now do restaurants, no, we will not accept that. Sorry,” he said.
Since the establishment of the FCT in 1976, administrators have been engaged in a running battle with encroachers who built houses and other structures on unauthorized land, including those marked out for drainages, parks and future expansion of infrastructure such as roads, among others.
In December 2022 alone, the FCT authorities removed 3,197 illegal structures to ensure the safety and security of FCT residents as well as maintain cleanliness and ensure that residents lived without any threat.
