Ground Rent: Wike orders revocation of 1,095 Abuja property titles as FCTA begins enforcement action

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has commended enforcement actions on 1,095 property titles in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that were revoked over non-payment of Ground Rent, Certificate of Occupancy (C-OF-O) bill, Penalty/Violation fee and Land Use Conversion fee.

The 1,095 are property titles in Asokoro, Maitama, Garki and Wuse districts of the Federal Capital City (FCC).

This was contained in a statement by Lere Olayinka, senior special assistant, public communications and social media to the FCT Minister, on Friday.

Mr Olayinka said the owners had ignored a series of public notices, issued from May to November this year by the FCTA in national dailies, online platforms, and television stations, requesting defaulters to settle their financial obligations or risk losing their titles.

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The public notice issued on Friday by the FCTA was titled: “Commencement of enforcement actions on defaulters of Ground Rent payments, Land Use Conversion Fee, C-of-O bills.”

It reads, “The general public particularly holders of property in the FCT are hereby notified that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), His Excellency, Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, CON, has approved he commencement of enforcement actions on a total of 1,095 properties in the Federal Capital City (FCC) for defaulting in various payments.

“Despite the several publications/public notices made by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in some national dailies, online platforms and television stations requesting defaulters to settle their financial obligations/liabilities to the FCTA namely – Ground Rent, Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) Bill, Penalty/Violation Fee, and Land Use Conversion Fee, the underlisted property holders have failed to comply. This contravenes the provisions of Section 28, Subsections 5(a) and (b) of the Land Use Act and also the terms and conditions of the grant of the respective Rights of Occupancy.

“Following the expiration of the final grace period of fourteen (14) calendar days on Tuesday, the 25th of November 2025, the FCT Administration will carry out enforcement actions on the 835 properties for defaulting in payment of Ground Rent and 260 properties for defaulting in payment of Violation Fee and Land Use Conversion Fee.”

Mr Olayinka did not list the names of the defaulters.

Earlier warnings

On Monday, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, warned ground rent defaulters in the territory that there would be no further extension on the payment deadline.

A few days earlier, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the FCTA would commence fresh enforcement actions on Wednesday, 26 November, against defaulters of ground rent, land use change, and conversion fees, as well as right-of-occupancy and certificate-of-occupancy bills.

The administration noted that the two-week and the presidential grace periods granted defaulters four months ago had long elapsed, stressing that it would be the last opportunity for defaulters to pay.

Previous action

In May, this newspaper also reported that the FCTA sealed some of the 4,792 institutions whose properties were affected by the non-payment of ground rent, including the PDP national secretariat in Zone 5, Wuse District.

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Other organisations earlier on the list of defaulters included the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), CONOIL Plc, Borno State Government, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), National University Commission (NUC), M.R.S Investment Company Limited (owners of MRS Petrol Stations) and Kaduna State Government.

The Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, University of Calabar, Nigerian Postal Service and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) were also among the defaulters.

It is unclear whether some of them have made the payment.