The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the alleged fraudulent allocation of title documents to some real estate developers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) before the appointment of Nyesom Wike as Minister of FCT.
The decision of the House stemmed from a motion moved by Rep. Jonathan Gbefwi, who noted that the allocations were made in a “highly suspicious manner” and questioned the legal right of the Director of Lands or any FCT official to issue Right of Occupancy in the name of the Minister when the office was vacant.
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The House is concerned that some affected lands are subject to ongoing litigations and that beneficiaries are using the allocations to forcibly grab disputed land, potentially leading to conflicts.
The Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, directed the Committee on FCT to investigate all allocations made in the name of the Minister of FCT between January and August 2023 and report back in four weeks.
The House resolved that all lands subject to litigation or multiple allocations should be identified and their allocation withdrawn by the Minister pending resolution of the matter.
“We are convinced that if the title document of any land is fraudulently issued or procured, whatever is built on it should not stand in the interest of the public,” Gbefwi said.
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