Former President Muhammadu Buhari has publicly denied ownership of a piece of land in Abuja, which was reportedly revoked by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) under the directive of Minister Nyesom Wike.
The denial was articulated through a statement issued on Thursday by Garba Shehu, Buhari's Special Assistant on Media and Publicity.
The controversy began when SaharaReporters disclosed that several high-profile individuals, including the Muhammadu Buhari Trust Foundation, were affected by the FCTA's revocation of land allocations. However, Buhari clarified that he is not personally the owner of the land in question, which is registered under the name "Muhammadu Buhari Foundation."
In his statement, Buhari emphasized, "As with anything Buhari and there is no surprise in this at all there is a lot of buzz in the media on the reported seizure of a piece of land by the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, FCTA, allegedly belonging to former President Muhammadu Buhari."
Garba Shehu further explained, "The Foundation was itself floated by some utilitarian individuals around him who, it must be said, went about it in a lawful manner with the support of a number of well-meaning persons. But they ran into a roadblock in the land department of the FCDA which handed them an outrageous bill for the issuance of the certificate of occupancy, very high in cost, that did not at all compare with the bills given to similar organizations."
Buhari also addressed the issue of land allocation during his presidency, stating, "As a person, the former President has a plot of land to his name in Abuja. When he and his cabinet members were invited to fill the forms and obtain land during his tenure in office, he returned the form without filling it, saying that he already had a plot of land in the FCT, that those who did not have should be given. He, therefore, turned down the offer."
The former president urged the public to verify facts before making assumptions, adding, "So please let all those jumping up and down in the digital space talking about the rightfulness or the lack of it on the reported seizure of Buhari’s land in Abuja get their facts right, and stop dragging down the name of the former President."
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