Harrison EDEH

THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has directed the immediate demolition of houses obstructing waterways in Maitama and other flood-prone areas of Abuja.

Wike issued the directive on Tuesday after inspecting areas affected by flooding in Maitama, with many residences and offices adversely affected.

The minister warned that the demolition would commence immediately and continue until Saturday, irrespective of the status of the owners of the affected properties.

The minister’s directive comes as flash floods afflict parts of the nation’s capital following heavy downpour last week.

According to the minister, the FCT administration would no longer tolerate the obstruction of waterways by property owners, adding that any structure found to have been built on a designated water channel would be demolished.

“We will demolish all those houses found on the water channel. Some of them are senators. Some of them are big men,” Wike said.

“Whether there’s an election or there’s no election, all those houses will go down. Heaven will not fall. Rather, heaven will be at peace that the right thing has been done.”

Wike said the recent flooding had exposed several human factors contributing to flooding in Abuja.

He acknowledged that construction of buildings on waterways, blockage of drainage channels, indiscriminate dumping of refuse and inadequate supervision of developments were among factors worsening flooding in the capital.

The minister said an inspection of affected areas showed that some property owners had blocked channels designated for stormwater in the masterplan.

“Unfortunately, we have gone there, and we have seen how people have blocked channels where, in the masterplan, that is the right way where the water is supposed to be channelled,” he said.

Wike said the affected structures were mostly owned by wealthy Nigerians and had been there for several years.

He said the government would enforce development regulations regardless of the social status of property owners.

“All those built-up areas that were not supposed to be built up, not a single poor person will live there. Those houses are houses built by well-to-do Nigerians,” he said.

“Those houses are not houses that were built last week. Those houses have been there for 10 years, eight years ago.”

The minister said previous administrations might not have had the political will to enforce planning regulations, while some officials may also have failed to carry out their responsibilities.

He stressed that the current FCT administration has the political will to address the situation.

“And let nobody make the mistake that this government lacks the political will to do anything. The person must be making a very big mistake,” Wike said.

“If there is one minister that has that political will, I have. I have the political will.”

Wike rejected attempts to politicise the recent flooding, saying flooding was not peculiar to Abuja or Nigeria.

He said the intensity of recent rainfall could partly be linked to climate change and natural factors but stressed that human activities had also contributed significantly to the situation.

He directed relevant FCT authorities to commence immediate desilting of identified drainage systems.

“We are in a climate change period. The kind of rains we have experienced, or we are experiencing now, we have not experienced before. But that is not that there are no man-made factors. There are,” the minister said.

Wike also dismissed criticism from political commentators over the flooding and the administration’s response, saying he would not allow political considerations to distract him.

Advocate Times reported that the senator representing the FCT, Ireti Kingibe, said in an interview that she had earlier alerted Wike to the flooding concerns and abuse of green areas in Abuja but was ignored.

However, Wike said the FCT administration had recorded significant achievements in the past three years but acknowledged that several challenges remained.

He added that residents who genuinely brought problems in their communities to the government’s attention would be listened to.

“I don’t want to reply to political commentators. I don’t want to reply to people who think that appearing on TV, in their houses, will give them an edge to win an election that they have lost. No,” he said.

“Nobody can diminish what this administration has done in the past three years. Nobody can diminish it.

“This administration has done very well as far as the Federal Capital Territory is concerned. That does not mean that I can claim that it has solved all problems, no. Are there problems? Yes. Have they solved major problems? Yes. Will they continue to solve problems? Yes.”

Wike also defended the administration’s record on the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-Os).

He said 26,272 C-of-Os had been signed in the past three years, compared with about 7,000 signed by two previous administrations over 13 years.

The minister said critics should assess the administration based on its overall performance rather than use the flooding incident to discredit its achievements.

Wike said the administration would remain focused on addressing challenges in the FCT rather than engaging in political arguments.

He urged residents, traders and the public to stop dumping refuse into drainage channels.