A COALITION of real estate developers in the Federal Capital Territory has appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the leadership of the National Assembly to investigate the Managing Director/CEO of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Oyetunde Ojo, over allegations of land grabbing, extortion, and official high-handedness.
News Point Nigeria reports that the developers alleged that Ojo’s tenure at the FHA has so far led to financial losses and the stagnation of dozens of multi-billion-naira projects, which they attributed to alleged land grabbing and extortion practices that have also resulted in multiple ongoing court cases.
In a statement signed by the coalition’s coordinator, Mr Benjamin Yamusa, and publicity secretary, Nofisat Kareem, the developers said they decided to seek the intervention of President Tinubu and the National Assembly due to “the huge financial loss we incurred and the mounting interests on the debts we got from the banks due to the deliberately-slow administrative processes of the land development approvals regime being implemented by Mr Oyetunde Ojo at the FHA.”
They further stated that most of the applications pending before the FHA were already at their final stages of approval, “but only to be deliberately stalled due to the encroachment of their already legally acquired lands by some land grabbers working (allegedly) in cahoots with the incumbent leadership of the FHA.”
According to them, “The encroachment of our legally acquired lands by some elements with full backing of Mr Oyetunde Ojo has stalled our progress, resulting into endless court cases, and mounting financial pressure due to the bank loans most of us secured for the development of the properties.”
The developers also said there are dozens of ongoing court cases at various High Courts in Abuja arising from alleged illegal encroachment and illegal reallocation of FHA-approved lands.
They urged President Tinubu to intervene “to arrest the brigandage at the FHA under Mr Oyetunde Ojo, who drops the President’s name in circumventing due process and extant rules governing land development at the FHA.”
The petitioners further lamented what they described as constant harassment involving security agents and prolonged litigation, which they said had overstretched their finances, with some members allegedly facing pressure from lenders over debts incurred for real estate development.
“Mr President, as a business-oriented leader, we are appealing to you to take a drastic action against the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Mr Oyetunde Ojo, over his incompetence, land encroachment and extortion,” the statement added.
They warned that “What Mr Oyetunde Ojo is doing at the FHA currently, is not only antithetical to the laudable mandate of the organization, but also capable of derailing and sabotaging your administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda on affordable and mass housing policies for Nigerians.”
The developers also called on relevant committees of the Senate and House of Representatives to probe the activities of the FHA leadership, with a view to sanitizing the organization and the broader housing sector.
They, however, reiterated their support for President Tinubu’s development agenda, stressing their continued commitment to national housing objectives.
Meanwhile, multiple attempts to obtain a reaction from Mr Ojo were unsuccessful, as his known telephone lines were not connecting.