The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Monday took action against properties in Abuja that have not paid ground rent for over three decades.
Among the affected facilities were the office of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), a branch of Access Bank, and a Total petrol station.
According to authorities, these properties have failed to pay ground rent stretching over many years. Specifically, the Access Bank branch was said to have not paid its dues for 34 years.
The FIRS office, on the other hand, had reportedly gone 25 years without settling its ground rent obligations. The Total petrol station was also targeted for long-standing non-payment, though the specific duration was not disclosed.
The action follows an earlier announcement by the FCTA in March when it revoked titles of 4,794 properties across the Federal Capital Territory.
Those properties were found to have defaulted on rent payments for periods ranging between 10 and 43 years. For those with less than 10 years of arrears, the administration had issued a 21-day deadline to settle their accounts or risk facing similar penalties.
As of last Friday, officials were still reviewing payment records to determine which property owners complied within the grace period. On Monday, the FCTA began reclaiming the properties whose titles had already been revoked.
An interesting detail emerged about the Access Bank property — it was not directly allocated to the bank. Rather, it was originally assigned to a company named Rana Tahir Furniture Nigeria Limited. It remains unclear whether the bank had since purchased the property or was leasing it.
