After a disagreement with Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Thursday, Senator Ireti Kingibe protested by leaving the Senate chamber.
Senator Kingibe reportedly tried to introduce a motion over the demolition of the Paul OSA Ogbeboh Estate in Abuja, but Akpabio turned it down, claiming it wasn’t on the order paper for the day.
He clarified that it would be against procedural norms to revisit an unlisted motion as the Senate was already discussing issues on the agenda.
Kingibe failed to convince the Senate President that the matter was urgently important to the country. She protested as she left the chamber, frustrated by the verdict.
In the midst of the Paul OSA Ogbeboh Estate controversy in Abuja, Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike, has called on those who claim that the FCTA has seized their land to provide legitimate proof of ownership.
Olayinka urged people disseminating misleading information to back their claims with reliable documentation, such as an FCTA-issued Right of Occupancy or Certificate of Occupancy, in a statement released on Wednesday. Additionally, he warned social media activists not to be exploited to spread false information.
He suggested that before bringing up any topic in public, “the most reasonable thing for someone to do is to find out from both sides.”
Olayinka specifically responded to a widely shared video about a piece of land at Life Camp, Plot No. 2241, Gwarimpa District, Cadastral Zone C02, Abuja, and urged people claiming ownership to support their claims with official records.
According to Olayinka, “a Temporary Right of Occupancy arrangement given in 1984 (40 years ago) allowed a construction business, Paulosa Nigeria Limited, to occupy the land as a temporary office.”
The business occupied the property for 36 years, erected permanent buildings there, and rented them out without the government’s consent.
Paulosa Nigeria Limited requested the conversion of the Temporary Right of Occupancy to a Statutory Right of Occupancy from the then-Minister of the Federal Capital Territory on November 18, 2020, following 36 years of unapproved land occupation.
Paulosa Nigeria Limited received clearance for a Statutory Right of Occupancy on February 1, 2023, subject to a few restrictions.
The terms and conditions include paying the ground rent per square meter every year, which was N50K/m² from 2022 to 2023, or N2,332,143; paying the premium, which is N500/m², or N11,660,715; and paying the ground rent, which is N43,144,645, from 1984 to 2021 (37 years).
Paulosa Nigeria Limited, however, disregarded the approval’s terms and conditions for 20 months.
“The approval was canceled on October 10, 2024, more than 20 months after it was granted, due to Paulosa Nigeria Limited’s failure to adhere to the terms and conditions for approval issued for a Right of Occupancy on the aforementioned land.
“The land was never owned by Paulosa Nigeria Limited, as can be seen from the above.”