Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike on Friday threatened to revoke the land titles of event centres, hotels and other public facilities used by illegal organisations for gatherings in Abuja.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration warned owners of event centres, hotels and other public facilities in the territory against allowing their premises to be used by illegal organisations or unrecognised political party leaderships, stating that title documents of any affected property would be revoked.
The directive came hours before a planned special convention by the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, scheduled to ratify former President Goodluck Jonathan as its 2027 presidential candidate. That PDP faction is not recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The warning was issued through the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the FCT Minister, Lere Olayinka, who said land allocations within the territory were meant strictly for lawful activities.
Olayinka said the Federal Capital Territory Administration would intensify monitoring of event centres, hotels and other public buildings, and urged facility owners to verify the legality of any organisation seeking to use their premises before approving bookings.
The administration specifically directed hotel and event centre operators to deal only with leaders of political parties recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, particularly during the ongoing political season. Proper transaction records, the statement added, must be kept for all bookings.
The directive forms part of broader efforts to strengthen security in the nation’s capital and support ongoing operations by security agencies.
Wike warned that failure to comply with the directive would result in revocation of the affected property title documents.
The minister has a history of deploying land title powers as an enforcement tool. In April, the Action Democratic Congress accused Wike of pressuring the owner of the Rainbow Event Centre to deny the party use of the facility for its convention, threatening licence revocation.
