The Federal Capital Territory Administration has launched an investigation into the flooding that recently ravaged parts of the Airport Road and Lokogoma, with the FCTA blaming possible violations of the Abuja masterplan for some of the problems.
The investigation is expected to determine how much of the flooding was caused by the recent heavy rainfall and how much resulted from human activities, particularly developments that contravene the Abuja masterplan.
FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who disclosed this during a live media chat monitored by The Abuja Inquirer, said the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority and the Director of Development Control had been deployed to inspect the affected areas.
“When I heard of the incident, the Executive Secretary of the FCDA and the Director, Development Control had to go to the place, not only at the airport road but also in Lokogoma.
“The one that is man-made, we can solve the problem; the one that is natural, there is nothing we can do. It becomes a natural disaster. So, it’s something that we have to investigate”.
Wike said the volume of rainfall recorded in Abuja recently was unusually high but maintained that violations of the masterplan had also become a major concern in parts of the affected areas.
He specifically cited Lugbe, where he said buildings had been erected without approval and spaces reserved for roads and other infrastructure had been obstructed.
“From our studies, Lugbe has always been violating the Abuja masterplan. All over the years, you see people building without approval and blocking where is supposed to be a roadway. As an administration, we are not taking it lightly”.
The minister said the FCTA was also scrutinising the conduct of its own officials, particularly those accused of facilitating developments on green areas and waterways.
He also disclosed that a director had recently been suspended for allegedly issuing unauthorised temporary approvals to commercial operators on designated green zones, while another official was sanctioned over the illegal reallocation of park land purportedly for security purposes.
Wike also said the administration would not recognise approvals obtained improperly as justification for retaining developments on protected areas.
“You got approval to do something wrong. Sometimes, it’s under influence. Government policy is that nobody should do anything on green areas. Now you go with the spirit that nothing will happen, and then when we come to enforce, you say you have approval. It is not going to be accepted,” he clarified.
Beyond the flooding issue, Wike said the administration was also making progress on capital projects across the territory, with 76 of the 107 projects awarded under the Tinubu administration already completed.
He said 10 more projects were expected to be completed ahead of the forthcoming elections, while the remaining projects would be delivered before the end of the administration’s tenure.
On inherited projects, Wike said the administration had completed 23 of the 25 projects inherited from the Muhammadu Buhari administration and six of eight projects inherited from the Goodluck Jonathan administration. He also said the FCTA had addressed some long-abandoned projects dating back to the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
The minister further defended the Federal Government’s fuel subsidy removal policy, arguing that the increased revenue available to states and local governments should translate into better governance and service delivery.
“All you should have asked was: having removed subsidy, what did you do with the gains of it? The government has come to say the gains were shared among the subnational governments.
“Today, the states are paying salaries and pensions unlike before. Today, I can go on with projects. Today, the universities are going on without strikes. Having done that, it is now for states to account for what they have done with the money.”
