Blame PDP Elders, Not Wike, For Owing 28 Years of Unpaid Ground Rent – Lere Olayinka Reacts

 

Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, has attributed the revocation of the PDP national secretariat’s land title to the negligence of party elders, including Bode George, rather than Minister Nyesom Wike.

NigeriaUpdates reports that Olayinka, in a statement on Saturday, March 22, 2025, absolved Wike of any wrongdoing. He found it surprising that Bode George, who was once in the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) when the PDP failed to finalize the purchase of Wadata Plaza, would publicly criticize Wike for enforcing legal obligations.

During an interview on Arise Television on Friday, Bode George had described Wike’s action as an “open declaration of war” against the PDP.

In response, Olayinka criticized George’s remarks, noting that the revocation of 4,794 land titles across Abuja—including that of PDP—was due to long-standing unpaid ground rent.

“Why didn’t the PDP pay Ground Rent for 20 years on its Plot No. 243 national secretariat (under construction), which is the only property belonging to the party among the 4,794 revoked titles? How’s government’s enforcement of the consequences of land title owners’ refusal to pay Ground Rent a declaration of war? Should the FCTA under Wike have treated PDP differently from the 4,794 owners of land titles that were revoked over failure to pay Ground Rent?”

Olayinka clarified that PDP never owned the Wadata Plaza building, which is being used as its secretariat. According to him, the property belongs to Senator Samaila Mamman Kurfi, who purchased it from Wadata Enterprises Nigeria Limited.

He further explained that PDP attempted to buy the property in 2005 but failed to pay the required N26.9 million, despite requesting a waiver from then-FCT Minister, Nasir El-Rufai, who declined their plea.

“The PDP offered to buy the Wadata Plaza property in 2005, and when the Minister’s Consent was sought, the party was asked to pay N26.9 million. The money was never paid.

The party wrote a letter to Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the FCT Minister then, to waive the payment, claiming that it lacked the financial capacity to pay, but he (El-Rufai) insisted the party must pay.

El-Rufai, who insisted PDP must do the right thing by paying the necessary fees to the government, was a member of the party then, and Chief Bode George, who was in the PDP NWC, did not go to national television to accuse him (El-Rufai) of declaring war against the party. And if the owner did not pay ordinary N2.8 million as 28 years Ground Rent, who is to blame?”

On the PDP national secretariat at Central Area, Olayinka questioned why the party had neglected to pay N7.6 million in ground rent for 20 years despite raising over N21 billion in 2014 for the building’s completion.

“On the PDP national secretariat at Central Area, is it the fault of Wike that a mere N7.6 million was owed as 20 years Ground Rent despite that over N21 billion was raised in 2014 for the completion of the building?

What should have been done was to seek information, rather than going on television to advertise hatred against a Minister who is simply doing his job without looking at people’s faces.

If Chief Bode George had sought necessary information and refrained himself from acting out of hatred for Wike, it would have been known to him that also affected by the revocation were government-owned institutions like Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Borno State Government, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), National Universities Commission (NUC), Kaduna State Government, Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company, University of Calabar, Nigerian Postal Service, and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

And like I asked earlier, if Chief Bode George were to be the FCT Minister, would he have treated PDP differently from the other 4,793 land title owners?”

Olayinka urged PDP leaders to take responsibility for their financial mismanagement instead of blaming Wike for enforcing land regulations.