Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has rejected entreaties by the Nigerian Customs Service to reconsider his revocation of its land but promised to allocate a new plot of land to develop the Customs Staff School
Speaking on Thursday when he received a delegation of the NCS, led by its Acting Comptroller-General, Bashir Adeniyi, the Minister said the new policy of the administration is that any agency seeking land in the territory would undertake to develop it within a specified time or have the land revoked.
“Frankly speaking, we will look at it and see what we can do. Whether you are going to pay a penalty, you will pay a penalty. That is what we are going to do,” he said.
On the appeal for an allocation to build the Customs Staff School, Wike said approval would be on the condition that the NCS would commit to developing the land within a time frame or risk revocation.
“Be rest assured that I am going to approve the land for the school. You bring the application, I will sign it and give it to the Director of Lands to give you the land that you can use. Schools are very important. It is not only the children of customs officers that will attend the schools.
“My policy now is that before we give land to any agency, it must commit that it will develop the land within a certain number of years, and if not, the FCT should take back the land. I will not allocate land that will lay till thy kingdom come. So, you must convince me that you are indeed serious about building schools for the children of your staff and our children”, he said.
He also said the approval would be on the condition that the Custom boss agrees to pay the ground rent as and when due, adding that there would be no given notice for the payment of ground rents.
Earlier, the Customs boss said the purpose of the visit was to congratulate Wike on his appointment as FCT Minister, and his achievements so far.
Describing the Nigeria Customs Service as a critical stakeholder in the FCT, Adeniyi said about 2,500 officers live and contribute to the development of the FCT.
He however lamented that officers’ children could not access public schools and were under pressure at private schools, hence the request for a land to build primary and secondary schools for children of staff.
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