FG Sets To Recover Funds From Defaulting Estate Developers
The Federal Government has said it will go after mass housing estate developers in the Federal Capital Territory, who default in the payment of statutory fees.
The Chairman, Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, gave this indication while visiting the FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, in Abuja on Thursday.
According to him, out of the over 300 beneficiaries of mass housing land in the FCT, only 64 developers had completed and signed lease agreements, while 79 per cent have failed to comply with statutory requirements and payments.
The panel chairman said the total fees collected so far, amounting to a little over N1bn, fell short of what should have been realised by the FCT Administration, the Chief Press Secretary to the minister, Cosmas Uzodinma, quoted him as saying in a statement.
Obono-Obla expressed concern over reports of fraudulent leasing of land for mass housing development by the initial beneficiaries as well as cases of non-payment of rates and fees running into billions of naira.
Also to come under scrutiny are reports on officials who were alleged to be complicit in fraudulent deals that robbed the government of billions of naira.
Obono-Obla explained that the panel was constituted in August 2017 by the Federal Government, pursuant to the Recovery of Public Property (Special Provisions) Act, CAP R4, LFN, 2004, with a mandate to investigate the assets of private persons and public officers perceived to have engaged in corrupt practices, or in any way breached the provision of the Code of Conduct Act.
He said the panel was ready to collaborate with the FCT Administration to recover public funds from the developers, who had “by their acts of non-compliance with extant regulations and statutory requirements committed acts of economic adversity.”
He also indicated the readiness of the panel to expose civil servants who might have connived with developers to violate extant rules and procedures.
Bello commended plans by the panel to focus on land administration and by extension, mass housing.
