The Senate Ad hoc Committee looking into the N6 trillion in unpaid ground rent has been advised by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to contact the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
Fashola made this statement during a Wednesday ministry visit by the Senate ad hoc committee, which was led by Sen. Adamu Aliero (PDP-Kebbi).
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Senate established an ad hoc committee on March 29 to look into and recover the over N6 trillion accumulated from property owners nationwide failing to pay ground rent.
Sen. Yusuf Yusuf pushed to make the change (PDP-Taraba).
During the meeting, Fashola informed the Senate committee that the SGF, not his ministry, was in charge of the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC), which issued receipts for the property.
The minister claimed he was first made aware of the PIC’s activities after being asked to sign the property’s Certificate of Occupancy.
When they started giving me C-of-Os to sign about two years ago, he recalled, “I asked where the delegation was. Because the President has the authority to sign C-of-Os for property owned by the federal government and the state governors for property owned by the states.
“During the procedure, I saw a group known as the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC), which was purportedly responsible for providing receipts. I looked everywhere for this body but have yet to see it.
As the term is coming to a close, I have now formally written, asking the Director of Lands to do so and asking them to let me know what they are up to.
“They (PIC) answered that since they work for the SGF office and report to the President, they are not responsible to our office.
Therefore, they don’t report to us in the sense that your letter seeks to ask us to account for the PIC.
Since the PIC does not submit reports to me, I suggest that you contact the SGF with any questions about what they do.
He said that the majority of C-of-Os were outstanding petitions that had been in progress for 15, 20, or more years.
“I have questioned certain CofOs regarding the manner in which payment was made in the previous few years,” he stated.
After the meeting, Aliero told reporters that his panel would speak with the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) about the ground rent sale owned by the federal government the following week.
According to him, around N18 billion has been collected, and attempts are being made to collect the remaining amount.
“They disclosed to us how much has been gathered thus far,” Aliero stated. Attempts are being made to collect the remaining N18 billion from them.
“We’ll check in again in three weeks with an update. He added that any federal property, whether it has been sold or is still in its possession, I’m confident they will be able to recover what is owed to the federal government.
He said that his committee would examine every piece of real estate that the Federal Government owned and had sold in the several states and the FCT, as well as how ground rent was paid.
“You would agree that the federal government is attempting to diversify all sources of revenue outside oil in this time of revenue deficit. Undoubtedly, people will pay close attention when they hear “N6 trillion.”
“I am aware that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is working hard to diversify the sources of revenue. There has been a nominal rise from N800 billion in 2017 to almost N5 trillion.
“Undoubtedly, the incidence of borrowing by the federal government would decrease if ground rent is added.
