Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has ordered the immediate demolition of houses obstructing waterways in Maitama and other flood-prone areas of Abuja.
Wike issued the directive on Tuesday after inspecting areas affected by flooding in Maitama, as torrential rainfall triggered flash floods across parts of Nigeria’s capital.
The minister said the demolition would begin immediately and continue until Saturday, regardless of political activities or the social status of the affected property owners.
“We will demolish all those houses found on the water channel. Some of them are senators. Some of them are big men,” Wike said.
“Whether there’s election or there’s no election, all those houses will go down. Heaven will not fall. Rather, heaven will be at peace that the right thing has been done.”
Wike: Houses on waterways will be demolished
Wike said the recent flooding had exposed several human factors worsening the situation in Abuja.
He identified the construction of buildings on waterways, blocked drainage channels, indiscriminate dumping of refuse and inadequate supervision of developments as major contributors to flooding.
According to the minister, an inspection of affected areas showed that some property owners had blocked channels designated for stormwater in the FCT masterplan.
“Unfortunately, we have gone there, and we have seen how people have blocked channels where, in the masterplan, that is the right way where the water is supposed to be channelled,” he said.
Wike said many of the affected properties belonged to wealthy Nigerians and had stood for years.
He insisted that the FCT administration would enforce development regulations regardless of the owners’ social status.
“All those built-up areas that were not supposed to be built up, not a single poor person will live there. Those houses are houses built by well-to-do Nigerians,” he said.
“Those houses are not houses that were built last week. Those houses have been there 10 years ago, eight years ago.”
The minister said previous administrations might not have had the political will to enforce planning regulations, while some officials may also have failed to perform their duties.
He maintained that his administration had the political will to act.
“And let nobody make the mistake that this government lacks the political will to do anything. The person must be making a very big mistake,” Wike said.
“If there is one minister that has that political will, I have. I have the political will.”
Wike orders desilting of Abuja drainage systems
Wike said flooding was not peculiar to Abuja or Nigeria, noting that the intensity of recent rainfall could partly be linked to climate change and natural factors.
However, he stressed that human activities had also contributed significantly to the flooding.
“We are in a climate change period. The kind of rains we have experienced, or we are experiencing now, we have not experienced before. But that is not that there are no man-made factors. There are,” the minister said.
He directed relevant FCT authorities to immediately begin desilting identified drainage systems.
Wike also urged residents, traders and members of the public to stop dumping refuse into drainage channels.
Wike dismisses criticism over flood response
The minister rejected attempts to politicise the flooding and said he would remain focused on addressing challenges in the FCT.
His comments followed criticism from Ireti Kingibe, senator representing the FCT, who said in an interview with Arise TV on Monday that she had previously raised concerns about the risk of flooding in Abuja but that her warnings were ignored by Wike.
Wike declined to engage political commentators, saying he would not allow political considerations to distract the administration.
“I don’t want to reply to political commentators. I don’t want to reply to people who think that appearing on TV, in their houses, will give them an edge to win an election that they have lost. No,” he said.
“Nobody can diminish what this administration has done in the past three years. Nobody can diminish it.
“This administration has done very well as far as the Federal Capital Territory is concerned. That does not mean that I can claim that it has solved all problems, no. Are there problems? Yes. Have they solved major problems? Yes. Will they continue to solve problems? Yes.”
Wike also defended his administration’s record on the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-Os).
He said 26,272 C-of-Os had been signed in the past three years, compared with about 7,000 signed by two previous administrations over 13 years.
The minister said the administration should be assessed on its overall performance rather than on the recent flooding alone.
He maintained that the FCT administration would continue working to address the capital’s challenges rather than engage in political arguments.
