URP tribunal judgement between Ignobis Hotel and Dev Control

The Ignobis Hotel Ltd was allocated Plot 147 Cadastral Zone 07-05 Kubwa for estate development, according to the purpose clause on the Certificate of Occupancy from the FCT Administration. However, the developer found out that the area is suitable for a hotel and applied to the Development Control for the change of use of the […]

The Ignobis Hotel Ltd was allocated Plot 147 Cadastral Zone 07-05 Kubwa for estate development, according to the purpose clause on the Certificate of Occupancy from the FCT Administration. However, the developer found out that the area is suitable for a hotel and applied to the Development Control for the change of use of the plot from estate development to a hotel, but did not obtain approval.
Notwithstanding, instead of the estate development, application was filed in 1999 with the Development Control for a building plan approval of the plot for a hotel. The building plan was approved on 15th May 1999. The Development Control Department wrote a letter asking him to pay N90,000 as approval fees, which he paid.
The normal signed and sealed approval documents were released to the developer from the department. The development was completed since the year 2000, and thenceforth put to use for a hotel as per the approval from the Control Department. There was no any record that showed that stop work, quit, demolition or any enforcement or contravention notice was issued to the developer while the building was being used for a hotel throughout the period of development up to 2013.
In 2013, the Development Control served the Ignobis Hotel Ltd  a  N13, 827, 337 bill, dated 21st February 2013 as penalty for contravention of the Abuja Master Plan. Again, the Development Control served the hotel with another bill demanding the payment of N41 million for contravention for three years.
Rather than pay the bill, Ignobis Hotel filed a complaint at the FCT Urban and Regional Planning Tribunal on 12th June 2013, that it was not in contravention of the land use provision of the Abuja Master Plan by virtue of the approved building plan granted by the Development Control; that it is not liable to any sanctions of whatever sum of money at all for any alleged breach of land use; demanding an order setting aside and declaring null and of no effect the Control Department’s letter dated 21st February 2013 and 16th May 2013; demanding an order that the Development Control issues Ignobis Hotel a letter of conveyance of change of land use and any order that may be necessary in the circumstances.
The FCT URP Tribunal entertained the complaint and served the Control Department notice of appearance. During the trial, the Control Department hinged its defence on the Ignobis Hotel’s lack of approval by the authority to the change of land use from estate development to a hotel. That the plot is currently being used for commercial purpose contrary to the stipulated land use; that the petitioners had no permission whatsoever to use the plot for commercial purpose.
The Control Department argued that the petitioners’ application for change of land use was not granted and that the payment for Building Plans Approval fees is not payment for change of land use. It further argued that available records showed that the petitioner paid for the fees for building plans approval prior to the application for change of use. Therefore, the building plan approval is not pursuant to the application for change of use.
In any case the Control Department posited that it is the Honourable Minister that is vested with the power of approval for land use change not the Control Department as demanded by the petitoner. And that the building plans approval was void since the change of use was not granted by the minister who is the only person vested with the statutory function of making decision pertaining to FCT.
At the end of the hearing session and adoption of motions by the counsel to the petitioners and that of the respondents, the tribunal fixed date and delivered its judgement on the 10th of December 2015. An important highlight in the judgement as stated by the tribunal was that, the purpose for which the plan approval was granted is a hotel, no longer an estate. But, it is clear that going by the terms contained in the Certificate of Occupancy, the petitioners could not construct a hotel since the purpose contained therein is an estate.
On the other hand, going by the terms contained in the conveyance of approval of the plan, the petitioners could not construct an estate but could only construct a hotel. In other words, the petitioners could not construct an estate nor could they construct a hotel.
The tribunal found that Ignobis Hotel submitted its application for change of use to the Control Department while the approval for building plan was still pending. The department elected to approve the building plans, on the strength of which Ignobis built the hotel. The tribunal stated, “It is startling that 16 years after the application for change of purpose was submitted to it, there is no formal communication from the respondent on the fact of that application submitted on 13th May 1999. To hold that the petitioners are wrong in constructing the hotel would be unfair and unjust in these circumstances.”
In the final analysis the judgment delivered by the tribunal was that the petitioners are not in contravention of the Land Use Provisions of the Abuja Master Plan having been granted a building plan approval to erect the hotel; the petitioners are not liable to pay any contravention charge for the sum of N13,827,337 or any sum at all and that the letters written by the Control Department to the Ignobis Hotel dated May 11, 2011 and May 16th 2013 are of no effect whatsoever.