FCTA ordered enumeration of uncompleted and abandoned houses in the federal capital city with the intention of doing them integrity test for re-validation of approval. Speaking at the public hearing organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Abuja, FCT Minister Bala Mohammed announced that 435 uncompleted and abandoned buildings in Abuja have so far been captured in the census.
Many wonder why Abuja with a high population would have several abandoned houses. Reasons are obvious. House owners charge what is beyond the reach of the average income earner. A one-room house in the main city costs N750,000. A two-bedroom can be N1.2 million or N1.5 million depending on the area.
Due to this high premium on houses, many uncompleted buildings easily become abode for the under privileged. The homeless, those who do petty jobs and troublemakers are normally squatters in such buildings.
Investigations similarly show that some house owners have either become ill or passed away so it becomes difficult for their heirs to continue with work. Some of the structures are abandoned because they were poorly built or the documentation was faulty ab initio. The developer cannot regularize it so they feel continuing with work is unwise because the building will finally be reduced to rubble.
Even houses that have been properly built and completed are abandoned because of high premium. At times, those entrusted with such properties illegally give them out to tenants who tip them without the knowledge of the house owners. This phenomenon
was very common in Gwarinpa Housing Estate, Abuja.
For long, uncompleted buildings have been occupied without anyone giving a hoot until on Sept. 20, 2013 when eight people (FCT minister called them migrant workers) were shot dead by men of the State Security Service (SSS) in an uncompleted house in Apo, an exclusively for-the-rich area in the main city.
The incident which prompted widespread condemnation elicited reactions from the FCT authorities. Security meetings were held and government reached the decision to remove buildings that might have lost integrity test as a result of many years of abandonment.
Security men said uncompleted houses are easily home for miscreants. On Wednesday, FCT Police Commissioner Femi Ogunbayode revealed that police had arrested 174 armed robbers between April and Sept. 2013 and recovered 604 live ammunition during the period.
The police boss noted that 10 criminal hideouts were identified and raids carried out regularly resulted in arrest of 940 suspects; 283 of them have already been prosecuted.
He warned owners of all uncompleted buildings to complete them or be held responsible if bad elements are traced to them reiterating that the FCT administration would no longer condone any delay by developers in completing their buildings.
According to him, “Very soon, we will take a decisive action on uncompleted buildings in the FCT. We’ll ensure that all buildings that have exceeded the two-year period approved for building will be demolished. If we cannot demolish, we will make it a police post. This time around we’ll take a definite action.”
Why govt did not act for long
The FCT minister blamed the inability of the FCT Department of Development Control to carry out its mandate on frivolous court injunctions obtained by developers. He said between 3,000 and 5,000 double allocations exist in the territory due to revocation and re-allocation of plots as a result of court injunctions.
According to him, 100,000 illegal buildings have been identified since he took over as FCT minister stressing that squatter residence matter had been extensively discussed with security agencies.
The minister said government will use the outcome of that census to swing into action adding that based on available records, the uncompleted property where the Sept. 20 killings occurred is owned by Adunni Oluwola Salisu, a civilian contrary to speculation that a General owns it. The minister explained that the plot was allocated in 2007 and its building plan approval was done in 2009.
Mr Yahya Yusuf, Director of Development Control, FCTA said some owners of abandoned buildings had complied with the control’s directive to carry out integrity test on their buildings while some had not.
He explained that anyone given land is expected to commence the development of such plot within six months. But he lamented that incessant court injunctions obtained by developers make his job difficult.
How do developers view this?
An Abuja-based developer who did not want his name here said, “It’s a welcome idea. But when government comes up with a policy, implementation is problem. If I have an estate that is for demolition and I know someone in top place, they’ll put a stop to it. If I have 20 houses to be demolished, I’ll part with N1 million to put a stop to it. I’ve lived in Abuja for close to 20 years.”
But why do many get land they cannot develop? The source explained, “The land situation gives room to this. Government does not know what to do about mass housing. It gives land to people who do not know what to do with it. They give land to people to go sell. Speculators get land. Why should government give land to people in hectares? Government officials give land to cronies. The least land goes for N15 million. Many who get it are not ready to develop. Someone else will come and buy from them.”
Mr Omokiede Razak who works with Ricoponer Global Limited identified lack of good planning especially with regards to financing and marketability as major causes of abandoned structures.
“Building is capital intensive. As real estate developer, you look at the market. Many enter into projects prematurely. Many jump into real estate because prospects are green. You have to convince your financier. Anybody tying down capital expects returns. Some financiers back out because they’ve not seen returns,” Razak explained.
He appealed to government to not look at developers whose property are abandoned as outcast but instead sit with them and find ways of redeeming the situation. “Government can hijack the projects, call developers to roundtable…Government should help the financiers.”
