Wike Tears Into Kingibe: ‘A Senator Who Doesn’t Understand The Law Has No Business In Office

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has strongly responded to comments made by Senator Ireti Kingibe regarding the recent sealing of properties in Abuja due to non-payment of ground rent. Among the sealed properties was the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), following Wike’s directive.

This action sparked backlash from Senator Kingibe, who criticized the move as illegal, asserting that defaulting on ground rent should attract fines or surcharges, not property seizures.

Although President Bola Tinubu ordered the reopening of the sealed properties for a 14-day grace period, Wike has not yet complied with this directive.

In reaction to Kingibe’s statement, Wike, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, accused the FCT Senator of harboring personal resentment against him. He described her remarks as a clear display of ignorance of the Land Use Act and an attempt to gain cheap political attention.

Olayinka said Kingibe’s criticism of the ground rent enforcement policy was “logically absurd,” pointing out that land ownership in the FCT is tied to fulfilling conditions like the annual payment of ground rent.

Mocking Kingibe’s stance, Wike’s aide sarcastically suggested that if the Senator believed landowners should ignore payment obligations, then the government might as well “sing their praises with samba and tambourine.”

He added:

“It is highly embarrassing that a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who is expected to understand the law, appears unaware of Section 28, subsections (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act.

Olayinka explained that those subsections clearly empower the government to revoke a statutory right of occupancy in cases of breach of terms specified in the Certificate of Occupancy, including failure to pay ground rent.