…Blames Developer for Non-Compliance
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
In a bid to retain the Abuja Masterplan, the Federal Capital Development Administration, FCDA, on Monday demolished a part of an estate, Citiscape Villa in Gazape district over infractions on the original building code and building on the waterway.
Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council AMMC, Chief Felix Obuah who led enforcement officials to the site, accused the developer of converting waterways and green areas and selling same to unsuspecting subscribers.
Obuah frowned at the manner in which the developer violated the building approval and said that the FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike will not allow anyone to sabotage developmental efforts in the city.
We want this to serve as a lesson to other developers who take loss into their hands. Right today, we have mobilized equipment and materials and machines. They are right here, he said.
He warned that any government official found culpable in the illegal deals with the developers would be punished in line with existing civil service rules.
The Director, Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima also accused the developer of non-compliance to the building approval, as well as refusing to heed the stop work notices served on him.
According to Galadima, it is no more business as usual as the FCDA enforcement team has doubled its monitoring activities to thoroughly check encroachment and infractions from developers.
The developer and owner of Citiscape Villa, Guzape, Kadiri Ogbaidi admitted to have violated the approval given to him by the Department of Development Control, but blamed the subscribers for encroaching into the green areas.
He said, “ You know it is an estate, so we have approval for the entire estate. But there have been many infractions here, mostly from our subscribers, who we are responsible for. So, we won’t deny any wrongdoing. We take responsibility.”
“We will remove every infraction here as specified by the authority. And we will take them out ourselves. We will bear the cost. So, we just appeal that the authority should allow us at least two weeks. We will start breaking them down. We will take them down ourselves. Likewise, we have been law-abiding, and we never had issues with the authority before”, the developer pleaded.
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