Wike up FCT revenue from N9 bn to N25 bn, generated ₦40bn in Dec. 24; Inks 7,000 C of Os to impact business, others

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says his aggressive revenue drive has shot up the monthly earnings of the nation’s capital from about ₦9bn when he assumed office in August 2023 to an average of ₦25bn monthly as at today.

The minister who spoke at a media chat on Sunday evening during a live television interview session with senior journalists from multiple media organisations, attributed the growth in revenue to the tune of about 177.7 per cent to the collection of ground rents and payment of Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) by land allottees.

Besides, he noted that the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) received over N40 billion as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in December 2024.

“At the time that publication (record of C of Os) was made, it was 5,000, but as of today, I have signed over 7,000. Yesterday (Saturday), I signed about 650. Two days ago, I signed about 750. That’s about 1,400. If you add it to over 5,000, it gives you close to that number.

“Before I became FCT minister, there were C of Os that had been there for 10 to 13 years and not signed. One of the mandates of Mr President was that we must create the ease of doing business and make it easy for people to be able to carry out their businesses.

“Having a C of O is something that will help you improve your business. It can be a collateral for you to access financing as the case may be. When I came on board, I said we have this backlog of C of O’s unsigned and it was killing businesses. It was making the economy not to thrive,” he observed.

From 2010 to 2015, the minister said that only about 5,000 land documents were signed, stressing that between 2015 to 2023, a miserly 3,000 were documented.

But between 2023 to 2024 and this January, Wike explained that he signed 7,000 C of Os. “In 13 years, they signed between 7,000 to 8,000 C of Os, but in less than two years we have signed 7,000. We should look at performance holistically,” he pointed out.

Besides, the minister said the FCT pays salaries to the tune of N13 billion every month.

“We don’t get up to N13 billion from VAT and the 1 per cent from the federal government. So, we have to augment the IGR to be able to pay the salaries because of the new wages. At the time I came, we were generating about N9 billion to N10 billion. Today, by the grace of God, we are not generating anything less than N25 billion a month.

“This is because of our aggressive revenue drive. In fact, last month, we were able to generate about over N40 billion. We are embarking on aggressive revenue drive to be able to carry out infrastructure drive.

“This revolution of development of infrastructure is not from my blood. It must be from taxes and when taxes are not paid how do we get development? In your conscience, can you say that the FCT is justifying the revenue or the taxes you are paying? Yes, it is,” he stressed.

The minister said the nation’s capital has the potential to generate up to N300 billion monthly revenue if land allottees fulfil their obligations to pay C of Os, stressing that the FCT will look like some of the most developed state capitals globally if it had access to that amount of money.

Also, Wike took a swipe at last week Friday attack of a 132kV transmission line and underground cables by vandals which threw parts of Aso Rock into darkness.

He said vandals who damaged and stole transmission cables throwing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) into darkness will learn their lessons.

 

Wike said the vandals are threatening the stability of the FTC and some suspects already arrested in connection with the crime would not be charged with stealing but economic sabotage.

 

“They vandalised, stole the cables, for over 60% of Abuja to be dark. Sabotage! By the grace of God, the security agencies are on top of the matter. We’ve arrested some of them and I can tell you: all of those that are involved will never come out of it and people will learn lessons from it.

 

“We won’t charge you with stealing; we will charge you with economic sabotage. Enough is enough. Nobody will take this. Nobody who loves his country will accept what is going on.”

 

Wike urged FCT residents to be involved in the policing of the nation’s capital by reporting suspicious activities.