N29bn ground rent debt: FCTA to place caveat on defaulters’ property

The FCT Administration (FCTA) yesterday said it will place caveat on the property of the owners who have failed to pay their ground rent to deny them access to such property until all the amounts being owed are fully paid.

FCTA’s spokesman, Muhammad Hazat Sule, dropped the hint when he paid a courtesy call on the management of the Media Trust Group, publishers of Daily Trust titles, in Abuja.

Sule, who is also the chairman of the media and publicity sub-committee of the recovery committee set up by the minister, said the decision was to prevent the owners of such property to tamper with them or in worst cases dispose them off.

He explained that when the defaulters of such property settled their debts, they would be required to write formally to the administration requesting for the vacation of the caveat.

He said some of the defaulters had been taken to court, adding that the committee was awaiting court rulings.

He regretted that some property owners had not been paying the ground rent for the past 17 years, adding that the administration would no longer tolerate such behaviour.

Responding, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Media Trust Group, Mallam Mounir Haliru Gwarzo, assured of the company’s readiness to partner with the FCTA in efforts to bring about positive changes in the nation’s capital.

It would be recalled that the FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr Adesola Olusade, recently inaugurated a debt recovery committee with the mandate to recover the outstanding debts owed the administration, with particular interest in ground rents and other sundry fees in land administration, as well as other land-related departments.