The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has revealed how he was defrauded to the tune of N57 million by officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) during his tenure as governor of Rivers State.
Wike revealed that he received three fake Certificates of Occupancy (C of Os) from FCTA officials despite paying N57 million for his land allocations.
He made the disclosure during a meeting with estate developers in Abuja.
“When I was governor of Rivers State, we had three C of Os from FCT. It turned out that all were fake,” Wike stated.
According to him, the officials disappeared after payment for the documents were made.
Wike announced that moving forward, a reduced fee of N5 million would be implemented for the acquisition of legitimate Certificates of Occupancy to help address such fraudulent activities.
“The C of O was coming from FCTA as a government, not as an individual. The plots allocated or said to be allocated, we paid money.
“When I now sent the Liaison Officer, the people from FCTA took him to the land and later, we discovered that it was fake land. Look at the money we had paid.
“The people disappeared. We could not find them again. Over N57 million that we paid. Why? Because that was how it was being done in the FCT. I have said that it will not work again.”
Peoplesmind
