Lere Olayinka, a media aide to Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has given more insights into the altercation between his principal and a Naval Lieutenant AM Yerima on a property in the Gaduwa area of Abuja on Tuesday, November 11.
Speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday, November 12, Olayinka said the perceived owner of the property, a former Chief of Navy Staff, Retired Vice Admiral Gambo was scammed by the company that sold the land to him.
Olayinka said, “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 that place is a parkway, it’s a walkway, it’s a road corridor. You don’t build there.”
The minister’s aide added that in 2022, the real estate company had written to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the minister for approval of the conversion of the property for commercial purposes.
He added that while that request was still in the pipeline, the company went ahead to sell the property to the former CNS.
He said, “Probably in anticipation of the Minister’s approval for conversion, the man decided to partition the land allocated to him, for park and recreation, and now sold to people, including the former Chief of Naval Staff.
“And that is why, I want to say here that the Chief of Naval Staff was scammed, he was scammed and he has realized that he was scammed. Instead of him to now come out and seeking help, he resorted to using military might,” Olayinka stated.
Continuing, Olayinka noted that in 2022, the minister of the FCT had declined the request for the conversion of the property in question from ‘Park and Recreational’ use to commercial purpose.
He said, “That was where it ended but he had already sold the land to people, probably giving them the impression that the Land Use will change, Wike was the Minister then. Now after selling land allocated to you for parks and recreation for people to build houses, who should the former Chief of Naval Staff go and hold responsible? The person who scammed him or the government?”
According to him, the former CNS has chosen not to hold the company and person who scammed him responsible but has resorted to the use of military might to intimidate staff of the FCTA, leading to the minister’s visit to the property on Tuesday.
“Now again, that particular portion has now been re-designated for the purpose of public and cooperate building, not residential, meaning that you cannot build residential houses there. That is one. So as of today, Vice Admiral Gambo does not have a title document showing that he owns the land; he does not own the land.
“Now, assuming but not conceding that he has title documents and he owns the land, before you begin development of land there are processes you must pass through, and one of such processes is that you must have a building plan showing what you want to put on the land.
“And you will take your building plan to 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 did development control approve the building plan,” Olayinka said.