THE Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has directed owners of hotels, event centres and other public facilities in Abuja to ensure that only political parties recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are allowed to use their premises for political activities.
The warning was contained in a statement issued on Friday by Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.
“The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has sounded a note of warning to owners of event centres, hotels and other public buildings in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to stop offering their facilities for use by illegal organisations.
“In this political season, owners of event centres and hotels in particular must ensure that they only deal with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognised leadership of political parties in respect of the use of their facilities, and proper records of transactions must be kept,” a part of the statement read.
According to the FCTA, event centres, hotels and other public buildings in the FCT will now be closely monitored to prevent their use by illegal organisations “capable of disrupting peace and security in the nation’s capital.”
“The FCTA noted that allocations of lands in the FCT are strictly to carry out lawful activities, adding that going forward, title documents of any event center, hotel or public building that is used for the gathering of illegal organizations will be revoked,” the statement added.
The administration warned that property owners must verify the legality of organisations seeking to use their facilities before approving bookings, adding that proper records of all transactions involving such bookings must also be maintained.
“This is aimed at ensuring that they are not used by illegal organizations for gatherings capable of disrupting the peace of the nation’s capital. Owners of these facilities are therefore urged to take cognizance of the legality of organisations seeking to use their facilities and the purpose before letting them out,” it said.
It further warned that any event centre, hotel or public building found to be hosting gatherings of “illegal organisations” risks losing its land title, stressing that land allocations in the FCT are strictly for lawful activities and said the directive forms part of ongoing efforts to strengthen security and maintain public order in Abuja
“Failure to comply with this directive will result to revocation of the title documents such properties,” the administration warned.
The ICIR reported that the FCTA revoked and took possession of over 4,794 land titles in high-brow areas of Abuja due to their owners’ failure to pay ground rent, which has been outstanding for periods ranging from 10 to 43 years.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.