Following a two-week ultimatum issued by the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for debtors to pay up ground rent or have their property revoked, the FCTA has recovered N1.9 billion.
The headquarters of the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) become a beehive of activities as property owners rush to pay their debts.
Checks by News Central Friday showed that the debtors of ground rent thronged to the AGIS office in a bid to beat the deadline and avoid revocation of their property.
While addressing pressmen, the acting director of AGIS, Isiaku Ndatsu Alfa explained that there has been an overwhelming rate in the payment of ground rents since the minister threatened revocation and commenced publication of the names of debtors.
Nsatsu said while receipts between June and July were at the lowest, immediately after the minister’s order in August, ground rent earnings rose to N500 million and increased steadily to over N1 billion.
He said by September 17, 2023, ground rents had reached N1.9 billion, and the figure is estimated to double by the end of September.
Alfa explained that an online payment portal system is being finalised for the collection of ground rents, certificate of occupancy (C of O), and other transactions to make it easier for AGIS.
He added that the online payment app was alreay developed and an official launch was expected by the FCT minister before the end of this year.
The platform is meant to make payments possible from the comfort of people’s various locations.
“That is the way going forward, and very soon, we can launch that App into the Remita, so the app will have an interface with the Remita.
“This is the first time since the inception of the FCT that we have somebody at the helm of affairs, the FCT minister, who cares about the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“If you do not have revenue or you have dwindling revenues, you might not be able to embark on some capital projects as it were, ever since the honourable minister came in his wisdom.
“I do not want to say he warned but he advised that all property owners within the FCT should make it a point of duty to meet up with their part of the obligations, as far as the ground rent payments are concerned.
“To our amazement, and happiness, there was a surge at the customer service area and that surge also translated into recoveries, in the sense that monies that were being owed are now being paid,” he said.
In order to cope with the surge of customers at the AGIS, the director said additional laptops and computer systems had been procured and redeployment of staff within sections had been carried out to meet Wike’s ultimatum.
Also, the acting director of AGIS’ Department of Land Administration, FCTA, Jibril Adamu Husseini, lauded the FCT minister for the decision, saying it was the only way to collect the over N34 billion debt.
He said non-payment of ground rents was “a breach of terms and breach of the condition of allocation.”