The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has vowed to demolish houses illegally constructed in the nation’s capital.

Wike declared that the houses built to distort the Abuja Masterplan and those constructed on green areas will also be demolished, no matter the owners of the buildings.

The immediate past governor of Rivers State made the vow while speaking with journalists shortly after his inauguration as FCT Minister in Abuja on Monday, August 21, 2023.

He stressed that his duty was to return Abuja to what it used to be and not as a witch hunt against any individual.

Wike said: “All those people who are distorting the Masterplan of Abuja, too bad. If you know you have built where you are not supposed to build, it will go down.

“Be you a minister of anywhere, be you an ambassador, if you know you have developed where you were not supposed to develop, your house must go down.

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“Those who have taken over the green areas to build, sorry, our parks must come back, the green areas must come back. If you hate green, you must hate yourself.

“I will step on toes. The big and mighty, I will step on them. If you are doing what is wrong, I will do what I am supposed to do.”

The minister added that the government would no longer tolerate the indiscriminate operation of markets and motor parks by the roadside.

He said people selling goods and wares under the umbrella by the roadside, illegal motor parks, and bus stops would no longer be tolerated, adding that they constitute part of the security challenges in Abuja.

“If you have a brother, sister, or uncle involved in any of these, please tell him that the time is up. The goal is to sanitise Abuja and make it safe for everyone,” Wike declared.

The FCT minister stated that efforts would be made to strengthen waste management and restore all traffic lights to keep the city clean, adding that motorcycle and tricycle operators would be banned from the city and put an end to open grazing within the nation’s capital.

Wike said: “We will consult with stakeholders, the natives, and herdsmen to address some of these problems, including open grazing.

“We will provide alternatives to reduce the suffering of the people, particularly those without private vehicles.

“We will bring back mass transit to improve access to public transportation, and therefore, the person in charge of transportation must keep his record clean.”

The former governor noted that all revenue leakages would be blocked to be able to mobilise the needed resources for infrastructural development in the FCT.

On security, Wike said he would work with all security agencies and provide them with necessary tools and logistics to rid Abuja of all criminals.

The Star