Ex-Naval chief scammed, turned to force in Abuja land clash – Wike’s Aide

Mr Lere Olayinka, the Senior Special Assistant on Publicityand Communications to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, NyesomWike, has defended the minister’s actions during Tuesday’s confrontation with anaval officer in Abuja. He described the incident as the outcome of a land scam thatmisled a former naval chief. Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme onWednesday, Olayinka said the disputed plot of land in question was originallyallocated in 2007 for park and recreation purposes, not for residential orcommercial development. “That particular land was allocated to a company in 2007,Santos Estate Limited, for park and recreation. “The company did not do anything on the land because thatplace is a parkway, it’s a walkway, it’s a road corridor. You don’t buildthere,” Olayinka said. He explained that in 2022, the company applied to the FCTAdministration for a change of land use from park to commercial, but therequest was declined. “In 2022, the minister of FCT declined that request. Wikewas not the minister then,” he noted. According to Olayinka, despite the rejection, the companyillegally partitioned the land and sold portions to private individuals,including a former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (retd). “Probably in anticipation of the minister’s approval forconversion, the man decided to partition the land, a land allocated to him forpark and recreation. “He now partitioned the land and sold it to people,including the former Chief of Naval Staff,” he explained. The aide, however, faulted the retired naval officer’sresponse, alleging that he attempted to use military influence to assertownership over the land. “That is why I want to say that the Chief of Naval Staff wasscammed. He has realised that he was scammed. Instead of him to now come outand seek help, he resorted to use military might. “After selling land allocated to you for park andrecreation, for people to build a house, who should the Chief of Naval Staff goand hold? The person who’s claiming or the government? “He chose not to hold the person who’s scammed, the companywho’s scammed,” he added. Olayinka further clarified that the land in question lieswithin the Mabushi area, designated for public and corporate buildings, notprivate residences. He added that Gambo had no valid title or approved buildingplan for the land. “Again, that particular portion has now been designated forthe purpose of, you know, if you know Abuja very well, you know how Mabushi is. “That is where you have Ministry of Works environment. Thatportion of the land, that pathway is for public buildings and corporatebuildings, not residential, meaning that you cannot build residential housethere. “As of today, Vice Admiral Gambo does not have a document, atitle document, showing that he owns the land. He does not own the land,” headded. The aide further explained that “assuming we’re notconceding that he has title documents and he owns the land, before you begindevelopment of a land, there are processes you must pass through. “One of such processes is to have a building plan, buildingplan showing what you want to put on the land. And you take your building planto the development control. “The question Nigerians should ask Vice Admiral Gambo is,did he take his building plan on that land to development control? And diddevelopment control approve the building plan?” Olayinka’s comments followed widespread reactions to a viralvideo showing Wike confronting naval personnel guarding a property linked tothe retired officer on Tuesday. The altercation has since sparked public debate over landadministration, civil-military relations, and abuse of power in the FCT.

Read More