The Accidental Public Servant

by El-Rufai, Nasir

  was headed by Usman Sabo Ago, a one-time director of planning and survey for the federal capital.

  My friend and top Lagos lawyer, Asue Ighodalo, and a US-based urban planner, Dr. Ismail Iro, were

  members, along with a few others. We terminated the endless studies and ended the contracts with the

  consultants. The committee undertook a detailed study, and submitted its excellent final report in

  April 2004.

  We then proceeded to engage Julius Berger to undertake the turnkey computerisation assignment

  whose scope covered Phase I of the FCC. This included the Central Area, Garki 1, II, Wuse I, II,

  Maitama, and Asokoro Districts. The project entailed the acquisition of relevant data, satellite

  pictures and aerial photographs, the supply of required computer software and other hardware, and

  staff training. The project required the turnkey delivery of a state-of-the-art land information system,

  geographic information system, and integrated land maps with comprehensive data on land title

  holders in digital form and hard copies.

  We constituted a 16-person counterpart team comprising staff of the land-related departments of the

  MFCT to work with the consultants. We selected each member of the task force based on technical

  competence, integrity and record of previous limited involvement in land racketeering in the FCT. As

  the implementation of the project went under way, it became clear that much more was achievable

  with the hardware and software already supplied and the resources available if additional data

  capture activities were tagged onto the main project. For instance, we realised that unless plots in

  Phase II of the FCC (Mabushi, Utako, Gudu, Katampe, Jabi, Gwarimpa I, II, Karmo, Wuye, Kukwaba

  and Durumi) and other new contiguous districts like Katampe Extension, Guzape, Mpape and

  Asokoro Extension were covered, the problem of double allocation of the same plot of land and

  similar fraud could not be fully addressed.

  Therefore, I persuaded President Obasanjo of the need for the ‘add-on projects’, which we funded

  partly from the contingencies in the contract and our 2004 statutory budget. These entailed the mass

  data entry of all land records in Phases I and II of the FCC; the field verification of status of all plots

  in Phase I and parts of Phases II and III of the FCC; the digital photographs of all buildings on all

  plots in Phases I and II; and the procurement of satellite imagery for Phases II, III and IV of the FCC.

  Other major settlements outside the city like Zuba, Lugbe, Kubwa, Karu, Nyanya, Gwagwalada, Kuje

  and Karshi were also to be similarly covered. The assignments were completed without any cost

  over-runs. In the process, our 16 staff were fully trained and certified to expert level in GIS and LIS.

  By July 2004, we were able to submit a comprehensive memorandum to the Cabinet containing the

  following findings:

  As at April 2004, the FCT had over 105,000 applications for land, for which only

  21,470 had been granted rights of occupancy. We had over 85,000 applications un-

  attended, some filed since 1980 – an 80% failure rate.

  The manual record-keeping system and resultant corruption had led to multiple

  allocations of the same plot of land to more than one applicant. Over 866 cases of

  multiple allocation involving individuals, companies, embassies and even Federal

  Government were documented by the task team. There were 2,149 cases of multiple

  plot numbering and 119 cases of multiple file numbering.

  There were rampant cases of forgeries of land records, theft of files and smuggling in

  of forged files into the Land Registry. The FCT branch of the EFCC under Assistant

  Commissioner of Police Amodu had to shut down a printing press in Kaduna, and

  began prosecuting some members of the syndicate.

  There were several other unauthorized bodies within the FCT involved in the

  allocation of land contrary to the provisions of the Constitution, the Land Use Act and

  the Federal Capital Territory Act, which stipulated that only the Minister of FCT and

  no other person or authority could approve the allocation of land in the territory.

  Vital facilities provided for in the master plan for respective districts and

  neighbourhoods had been converted to other uses, mostly residential – seriously

  distorting the Abuja master plan and putting pressure on designed facilities.

  Encroachments and violations were found wherein buildings were erected on water

  and sewer lines, road reservations and under high-tension electric lines. We

  uncovered the more disturbing, wholesale of conversion of flood plains, railways

  and transit way reservations by untitled squatters into buildings of sorts. About 200

  buildings had to be demolished in the city to remove these encroachments.

  Land-related revenue generation had been poor due to breakdown of record keeping,

  which provided ample room for non-payment of charges due, fraud and diversion of

  revenues. We found also that more than 70% of land title-holders were in arrears of

  payments of ground rents and other land charges, without any reminders,

  consequences or sanctions.

  We were conscious of the fact that some of the 85,000 reportedly pending applications for land

  included those filed by staff of MFCT land administration department, sometimes using passport

  photos obtained from FCT Pilgrims' Board using all manner of fictitious names. Furthermore, due to

  the age of some of the applications, we recognized that even some of the genuine applicants might

  have passed away, changed addresses and other contact details. We therefore needed to take steps to

  correct some of these anomalies as part of any clean-up process.

  We drew the attention of the cabinet to the existence of nearly a dozen different agencies, departments

  and authorities allocating land within the FCT. These existed and operated while the relevant

  professionals in the land administration department were helpless, leading to the distortion of the

  Abuja Master Plan, multiple land use violations and threats to public safety, health and order. These

  unauthorized ‘land allocation organizations’ included the following:

  the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) that alienated land within residential estates allocated to it;

  Abuja Environmental Protection Board that ‘allocated’ parks and gardens for irregular use;

  Development Control Department of FCDA which ‘allocated’ corner shops and open spaces;

  Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development ,which alienated land within residential estates

  allocated to it;

  Department of Engineering of FCDA , which controlled and temporarily ‘allocated’ ‘life camps’ to

  construction companies, electric sub-station plots, transit ways, and roads rights of way;

  the six Area Councils had until 2001 control of land outside the city footprint, previously allocated

  what was called “Rural Land” in FCT;

  Department of Economic Development which ‘allocated’ Agricultural Land, and alienated plots

  within any FCT Market;

  Department of Public Buildings of FCDA which sometimes alienated land within various FCDA

  residential estates;

  the various task forces on resettlement extensively allocated land illegally in Dei-Dei, Zuba and

  Kubwa),

  Department of Maintenance, FCDA also engaged in land alloaction within some FCDA residential

  estates; and

 
; The Chiefs, Village heads and other traditional rulers in FCT granting what they called "customary

  title" to various illegal squatters and occupants of land.

  The Cabinet accordingly approved that the next stage of the computerization of the cadastral and land

  information system should proceed, such that the rest of the FCC and the FCT would be digitally

  mapped and formal title, called Certificates of Occupancy, issued to all those who qualified. [64] On

  completion, we established the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) in the Minister’s

  office, to be the sole custodian of all geo-spatial data in the FCT.

  Taking advantage of the existence of multiple land allocation points and the confusion arising from it

  were several land syndicates operating with impunity in the FCT. Two such syndicates stood out -

  Engineer Amuchie Success, who operated in Asokoro, Wuse II, and Maitama, while Alhaji

  Muhammadu Kamba, who specialized in Wuse I, Garki 1 and Kubwa plots. These syndicates

  operated with the assistance and connivance of staff of the MFCT cartographic unit and FCDA

  planning and survey department. Indeed, the syndicates even printed their C of Os, which were

  identical to the genuine MFCT certificate, and were alleged to have the capability to forge the

  signature of virtually any Minister or official of the FCT, past and present. With the assistance of the

  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, we put these syndicates under pressure and on the run,

  and Engineer Success was arrested and was being prosecuted by the EFCC as at when we left office.

  In the course of investigations, the EFCC found that several tracts of land within Asokoro, Maitama

  and Wuse II District of the FCC had been fraudulently ‘allocated’ by these syndicates to several high-

  ranking Nigerians.

  Some of the victims of Amuchie Success, according to an EFCC report dated November 30, 2003 and

  addressed to President Obasanjo, were Senators Anyim Pius Anyim, Jonathan Zwingina, Evans

  Enwerem, Maina Ma'aji Lawan, and Abubakar Mahdi. Others included my predecessor-in-office,

  Mohammed Abba Gana, former governors Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Lucky Igbinedion of Anambra

  and Edo States respectively, the late Stephen Shekari, then Kaduna State Deputy Governor, as well as

  other prominent individuals. The syndicate leaders targeted senators, governors and important people

  that had the connections and capacity to ‘launder’ their allocations by getting properly regularised

  titles issued to them after they had completed their buildings with forged offer letters, titles, and

  building plan approvals. An instance was the case of Senator Jonathan Zwingina. Mrs. Altine Jibrin,

  then Assistant Director and Deeds Registrar, resisted all pressures including ministerial directives to

  register (and therefore launder) Senator Zwingina's fake title in respect of land reserved for a park on

  which he had built his mansion. The other alleged land racketeer, Muhammadu Kamba, mysteriously

  disappeared, and was rumoured to have fled from Abuja in fear of the EFCC. On receipt of the

  EFCC’s report, Obasanjo directed the MFCT to recover all illegally acquired plots and keep him

  informed.

  Following the finalization of the computerization of cadastral and land information system of Phases I

  and II of the Federal Capital City, and the establishment of the AGIS, we redesigned the form and

  substance of the FCT title document – the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), - and withdrew all

  evidence of land titles, while preserving the titles themselves. We invited every title-holder to submit

  documents for re-certification. To give legal effect to this decision, we gazetted FCT Land Use

  Regulations 2004, pursuant to the Land Use Act, and embarked on a nine-month programme of title re-

  certification, which started on July 5, 2004.

  Many initially questioned the legality of our re-certification exercise, but none succeeded when they

  challenged it in court. In fact, before arriving at this drastic but necessary decision, we ensured full

  legal review and compliance. I was merely exercising the powers of the minister of FCT which the

  president statutorily delegated to me under section 18 of the Federal Capital Territory Act and

  sections 9(1), (2) and 46(2)(d) of the Land Use Act, not only to grant Right of Occupancy (R of O)

  and C of O, but to make regulations with regards to, among others, the forms to be used for any

  documentation.

  Land Allocation Criteria

  We also looked at land allocation criteria and proposed steps to reduce the level of discretion vested

  in the FCT minister in granting titles to land. In the Federal Capital Territory, the basic principles

  guiding allocation of land were originally designed to ensure the achievement of the following

  objectives:

  Provision of adequate infrastructure, services and facilities;

  Development of a functional, beautiful city at all times, and viable satellite towns

  around the city;

  Promotion of national integration in residence and business ventures;

  Integration of the original inhabitants into the mainstream of economic and social life

  of the Territory; and

  Observance of relevant provisions of the Land Use Act, and full compliance with

  those of the Federal Capital Territory Act.

  These principles enjoyed different interpretations in the previous 28 years by successive

  administrations of the FCT. In the Second Republic, the Shagari administration's two ministers that

  first began the allocation of land in the FCT adopted the following criteria:-

  Date of Application (i.e. first come, first allocated),

  Ability and capacity to develop within 2 years of allocation,

  State quota with 40% of allocation based on population.

  Equality of states to ensure national unity, with 50% of available plots for

  allocation.

  Minister’s Discretion: 10% of plots available for allocation at the minister’s

  discretion to take care of presidential priorities and other political considerations

  other than (I) – (iv) above.

  Even though the criteria were fair and equitable, empirical evidence indicated that political

  considerations trumped the stated criteria. The criteria also failed to classify for instance, what

  identity to assign to firms and companies in which the state of origin of the owners and registered

  office of the business may be different. Other applicants like embassies, international organizations

  and foreign persons like the United Nations became similarly difficult to classify.

  Indeed, in the previous 20 years until I took charge of the FCT Administration, ministerial

  miscretion was virtually 100%, instead of the 10% in the approved guidelines, with the result that

  speculators, rather than capable developers, got land allocations within the FCT. Evidence available

  of registrations of power of attorney and deeds of assignment indicates that nearly 40% of all land

  allocated in the FCT in the previous two decades had changed hands at least once before

  development.

  After a careful review of the 28 years of experience and considering the backlog of 85,000

  unattended applications, we proposed the criteria for the fair, just and equitable allocation of land

  within the Federal Capital Territory - assuming that infrastructure provision for a particular district

  was financed with public funds - which were approved by the Federal Executive Council:

&
nbsp; Equality of states – 60% of plots

  Population of states - 10% of plots

  Public Servants resident in Abuja – 10% of plots and

  Ministerial Discretion – 20% of plots

  I have gone into some detail in explaining the logic behind our land reforms for two reasons. First,

  many states have attempted to implement what we did, with limited success as far as I know, and I

  hope that this will help point them in the right direction. In addition, the attempt by the Yar'Adua

  administration not only to reverse what we did, but to imply that we were driven by anything other

  than the best interest of Abuja and Nigeria, needs to be debunked. I had cause to write President

  Umaru Yar'Adua on November 30, 2007 on these and other matters, long before the Sodangi Senate

  Committee was procured to go on the revenge mission called 'investigative public hearings'. I will

  refer to parts of that letter because its contents would complement the story of the land reforms.

  I had assumed that President Yar'Adua meant well but was simply being misled, and with all sense of

  responsibility, I wanted to prevent the creation of more serious problems for his administration in

  attempts to demonize, smear and discredit a single individual - that is me. I love Abuja and gave

  nearly four years of my life to its restoration, orderliness and development.

  Land Administration in 2003

  When President Obasanjo appointed me as FCT minister he gave me the mandate to clean up amongst

  other things, the FCT land administration system which he adjudged to be a major source of

  corruption and rent-seeking within the Federal Government. In the FCT, we found that the President

  Obasanjo’s judgment was largely correct. For instance, we discovered that:

  Many Nigerians, particularly the political and military elite had been allocated plots of

  land, which had remained undeveloped for years. These plots of land were in every way