…Wike stressed that continued delay in ground rent payment was sabotaging the administration’s ability to fund critical infrastructure.
ABUJA, NIGERIA – The iNews Times | Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has reaffirmed his administration’s resolve to seal the properties of owners who have failed to settle their outstanding ground rents, despite a presidential grace period that has long expired.
Speaking during his monthly media chat in Abuja on Monday, Wike expressed frustration over continued non-compliance, warning that enforcement action will resume imminently.
“You should know what I’m going to do next,” the minister said bluntly. “I thank God the President said two weeks; we are at more than three months now. Very soon, we are going to seal up all those properties. I am going to seal them up.”
Wike was referring to the ultimatum issued in May 2025 by President Bola Tinubu, who had granted a two-week grace period for defaulters to pay their ground rent dues. The FCT Administration had begun sealing non-compliant properties on May 26, 2025, but enforcement had slowed following the president’s intervention.
The minister said the grace period was sufficient, stressing that continued delay in payment was sabotaging the administration’s ability to fund critical infrastructure.
“You can’t deny us the taxes we will use for development,” the minister said. “You’re talking about the health sector, about education–what have we done in other sectors? With what? You want this; pay the taxes you are supposed to pay, but you said no.”
Wike acknowledged that some defaulters had complied, but maintained that enforcement would not be politicised or subject to media pressure.
“Tomorrow, by the time we start sealing up properties, of course the normal politics will come up. I will not listen to that,” he warned. “You can blackmail all you want, go to Arise TV, stay there for hours, we are going to carry it out.”
He stressed that the FCT Administration was committed to using internally generated revenue to deliver tangible development and would not tolerate deliberate tax evasion.
