From Fred Itua, Abuja
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Thursday, rejected the Nigerian Customs Service request for reconsideration of its revoked land by the FCT Administration.
Wike said the Service, like others, can only reclaim the revoked land by purchasing it from the FCT Administration based on current market prices.
The Minister gave the condition when the Customs acting Comptroller-General, Adewale Adeniyi visited him in Abuja on Thursday.
Adeniyi requested for a land to build primary and secondary schools for the children of more than 2,000 Customs officers residing in the FCT.
Wike said: “I read your letter on the revoked land, very bad; very bad; very bad, but what do I do?
“When we gave you the land, you refused to use it; FCT will now sell it to you, and when we give you Certificate of Ownership, you pay our ground rent.
“I will give you the opportunity to buy the land from FCT and give you the value of the land now.”
He said the FCT Administration would support the Service to achieve its aims and objectives, but lamented how government agencies were allocated land in FCT and refused to develop them.
On the land for school development, the Minister assured the Customs boss that it would be considered, but on the condition that the agency would pledge to develop the land within a specific period.
Failure to comply, the Minister said that the land would be revoked.
“Schools, very important. It is not only the children of customs officers that will attend the schools.
“My policy now is that, before we give land to any agency, it must commit that it will develop the land within a certain number of years and if not developed the FCT should take back the land.
“I will not allocate land that will lay to thy kingdom come. So, you must convince me that you are indeed really serious about building schools for the children of your staff and our children,” he said.
Another condition, according to the minister, is for the service to pay ground rent as when due.
“Be assured that I am going to approve the land for the school. You bring the application; I will sign it and give it to the director of lands to give the land that you can use,” Wike said.
Earlier, the Customs boss said the visit was to congratulate Wike on his appointment as the FCT Minister and the outstanding works he has done so far.
He described the Customs Service as a critical stakeholder in the FCT with more than 2,000 officers residing in the Territory and contributing to the development of the city.
He, however, said not all the officers’ children could access public schools, stressing the need to provide quality education to their children.
He, therefore, requested for a land to build primary and secondary schools for the children of the officers.