PDP Carpets FCT, Wike for Sealing Secretariat 

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has denounced the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority (FCTDA) for sealing its national secretariat at Wadata Plaza on Monday.

Following a caucus meeting, the Acting Chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagum, criticized the FCTA’s actions as irresponsible and pledged that the party will contest the decision.

Damagum announced that the caucus meeting would reconvene at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

When queried regarding the continuation of the PDP National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, the Acting PDP Chair remained silent.

On Monday, officials from the FCTA sealed Wadata Plaza, which houses the National Secretariat of the PDP in Abuja, due to unpaid ground and tenancy fees.

Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, declared that the plaza owed N7,603,504.31 in 28 years’ ground rent.

“Regarding Wadata Plaza, serving as the PDP National Secretariat, N7,603,504.31 is owed for 28 years’ ground rent,” he posted on his Facebook page Monday afternoon following the closure.

Wadata Plaza was not the sole edifice sealed by the FCT administration on Monday.

Other establishments included complexes housing a commercial bank, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and the Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in Wuse Zone 5, the capital’s district.

According to Lere, the FIRS has been delinquent in ground rent payments for 25 years.

Monday’s actions followed the FCT administration’s lamentation a few months prior, highlighting a loss of over N6 billion in revenue due to non-compliance by certain property owners in ground rent payments spanning over a decade.