‘Centenary City nearly sacked former FCT minister’

Abuja Centenary City designed to be a mixed use development is sited a few minutes from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport. The city being developed by Dhabi-based real estate investment and development company Eagle Hills covers 1,200 hectares. Four communities of original inhabitants are being uprooted to give way for this city.A source said when […]

Abuja Centenary City designed to be a mixed use development is sited a few minutes from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport. The city being developed by Dhabi-based real estate investment and development company Eagle Hills covers 1,200 hectares. Four communities of original inhabitants are being uprooted to give way for this city.
A source said when the former FCT Minister was asked to sign documents for the land, he initially declined saying a project of this kind has no place in Abuja master plan. According to the official, papers were “hurriedly” put together for the minister to append his signature. But he objected saying it contravened the Abuja master plan.
This made a top government official who hails from the south-east livid. The official who enjoyed the listening ear of former President Goodluck Jonathan was said to have reported the minister, accusing him of insubordination. “The minister had to shift position to escape a sack,” Daily Trust was told.
A board for Centenary City was constituted including the name of former head of state Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Signs that questions might be asked about Centenary City started emerging last year at the onset of the project. The local people who lost homes and farmlands protested. About 3,500 natives were marked for displacement.
The palace of Chief Monday Kogi, the head of Gbagyi people in Barwa, one of the villages to give way for the proposed Centenary City was marked. Similarly, the house of the chief of Kpankpanyi was to go. Kogi resisted having their property enumerated for demolition.
The inhabitants in a letter signed by their counsel, Mr Baba Panya Musa to erstwhile Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Centenary Celebration Committee, Anyim Pius Anyim, the inhabitants called for a stop to the project until all issues were resolved.
Again, on February 2, 2015 Comrade Timi Frank wrote an open letter to former President Jonathan. Writing under the title: Centenary City Scam: Urgent need to Investigate and Sack the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) for Gross Corruption Arising from the Centenary City, Frank demanded immediate revocation of the Certificate of Occupancy of the Centenary City Plc; and withdrawal of the free zone status granted Centenary City.
He stated: “Despite being a PPP, Mr [Jaimal] Shergrill [Executive Director of Eagle Hills, the developer] explained that the Centenary City, as a free trade zone will be exempted from both federal and state taxes stressing that it will also be exempted from Federal Capital Territory tax…So who is fooling who? Was this the original plan from FCT administration? And how do these developers intend to recoup their investment from this apparent scam?” The former president did not respond. It is said that those who seek to own a plot in the city are charged thousands of dollars.
Abuja Infrastructure Investment Centre (AIIC) is FCT administration’s overseer of private sector investment of this kind. AICC coordinator, Mr Faruk Sani yesterday denied that the place is designated free trade zone saying agreement for the project was signed with terms clearly spelt out. He assured that all will be done in accordance with the Abuja master plan.
Meanwhile, construction works are in progress on the first phase of the city. A building on top of a hill at the north-west end overlooks the site of the project. Completion date is four years. The entire project is expected to cost about $180.6 billion with a completion period of 10 years.
The first phase named The Address and Residence will offer a combination of residential and hotel spaces, spanning across 25 hectares of land with world class amenities, restaurants and more.
Former President Jonathan inaugurated the company’s board of directors in October 2013. On the list of the directors are: General Abdulsalami Abubakar (chairman), Mr Victor Udeh, Mr Monabee Mitee, Dr Pamela Obaze, Mr Olatunde Ayeni, Mr Adetokunbo Kayode, Mr Ugochukwu Nkwocha, Mr George Marks, Mr Hani Tanois Saliba, representative of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the representative of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. Efforts to get Abdulsalami to speak on controversies surrounding the project failed.