The Honourable Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission, FCT, Comrade Dalhatu Ezekiel Musa has called for a review of the Abuja master plan.
Dalhatu made the call in Abuja on Tuesday at a one-day Town Hall meeting organized by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, on resettlement and compensation matters in the wake of a demolition exercise embarked upon by the Ministry in the Capital city. The Commissioner said the existing master plan was designed in 1976 and it is now outdated as it no longer reflects the realities on the ground.
“The master plan itself is obsolete, it is an expired document. 1976 we are talking about constitution of Nigeria 1999 and everybody is saying they should amend it, 1999 and 1976 which one is more recent? So you are talking of documents of 1976 and you want to implement it now? It must be reviewed. We take into cognizance the population and let me tell you, the master plan was done as if it was done on virgin land. Is Abuja now a virgin land? We must revisit the master plan and look at the issues that are on the ground. So we can do physical planning, not geometric planning” the Commissioner said in his submission.
The Commissioner restated his position on the demolition exercise, arguing that it was wrong for officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCDA), to wait for people to complete their buildings before moving in to demolish them. He said FCDA should be more proactive in stopping people from erecting structures on unapproved lands in order to minimize their losses.
“Development control is to control whatever development that is happening that is going against the extant rules, the rules of engagement of the development of the city. Nobody would be comfortable when we have criminals littered everywhere, but why on earth must they always wait until all the developments are done? Why would they wait because nobody would build a house except the super-rich people within one month? The communities we come to destroy would first do foundations, it would take two to three months, take it to roofing level, and then plaster. Some are even doing boreholes, some would do the fence, it would take them years. There was development control when all this was happening? But they would come in one day and destroy all of this. Do you know what we are losing? The government is losing and the citizens are also losing” he added.
Dalhatu, however, commended the Minister for listening to his initial advice to convene the stakeholders meeting, describing it as a good initiative, and called for continued engagement with the people to find a lasting solution to developmental issues in the Federal Capital Territory.
