The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has declared that no amount of blackmail would stop him from enforcing the law on ground rents and taxes in the territory, even as he disclosed that the charges for ground rents might be increased soon.
Wike, who made the remarks yesterday during an inspection tour of ongoing infrastructural projects ahead of their commissioning by President Bola Tinubu, stated that the refusal of property owners, particularly the elite, to pay ground rents and other statutory taxes remained a major challenge to sustainable development in the territory.
“Let nobody think that blackmail or whatever will stop us. We will do what we are supposed to do. This is all about leadership. We will not give in to blackmail. We will do the right thing,” Wike declared.
He stressed that most individuals refusing to pay taxes were well aware of the consequences in countries where they own foreign properties but chose to flout the laws at home.
“It’s unfortunate that most of the elite, who own houses overseas, know the implication of not paying taxes there. They know such houses will be gone. But here, nobody wants to obey the law,” the minister lamented.
The minister also stated that he had recently signed over 1,500 Certificates of Occupancy and Deeds of Assignment andcalled on residents to pay their taxes and ground rents to aid development in the FCT.
MEANWHILE, the National secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at Wadata Plaza has remained sealed, 48 hours after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered that it should be unsealed.
A visit to the building by our correspondent yesterday showed that no action had been taken to comply with the President’s directive to unseal the property.
The property was among the 4,794 that defaulted in the payment of ground rent, the reason why the FCTA authorities moved in on Monday to seal it.
Following the public outcry against the exercise, President Tinubu had asked the FCTA to unseal the secretariat.
