The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has revealed how to curb fraudulent activities in acquiring Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) in Abuja as he recounts his experience with fraudsters during his tenure as Governor of Rivers State.
Wike, during a meeting with estate developers in Abuja, said he was defrauded N57 million by officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
The minister said he received three fake C of Os from FCTA officials despite the whopping amount of money paid for his land allocations.
According to him, the officials disappeared after payment for the documents was made.
Wike announced that moving forward, a reduced fee of N5 million would be implemented to acquire legitimate Certificates of Occupancy to help address such fraudulent activities.
He said, “When I was governor of Rivers State, we had three C of Os from FCT. It turned out that all were fake.
“The C of O was coming from FCTA as a government, not as an individual. For the plots allocated or said to be allocated, we paid money.
“When I sent the Liaison Officer, the people from FCTA took him to the land, and later, we discovered that it was fake land. Look at the money we had paid.
“The people disappeared. We could not find them again. Over N57 million that we paid. Why? Because that was how it was being done in the FCT. I have said that it will not work again.”
