- Safiu Kehinde
Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, has dismissed reports on the former Nigerian President owning part of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) land revoked by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Reacting to media reports on the revocation of the land allegedly belonging to Buhari, Garba Shehu refuted the reports in a statement issued on Thursday.
He said the land which was earmarked “Muhammadu Buhari Foundation” is not personally owned by the former President.
Shehu explained that the land was gotten by some utilitarian individuals around Buhari who formed the foundation.
They reportedly gave up on the land after being issued an outrageous bill for the issuance of the certificate of occupancy which was incomparable with other similar organizations.
Shehu further disclosed how the former President had turned down offer to obtain additional land as he already had a plot in the FCT.
The spokesperson charged the media to stop dragging the name of the former President over the revoked land.
The statement read in part; “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 the former president Muhammadu Buhari.
“President president is personally not the owner of the said plot of the land which is allocated in the name a “Muhammadu Buhari Foundation.”
“The Foundation was itself floated by some utilitarian individuals around him who, it must 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.
“It may have been that this was not erroneous, but a deliberate mistake, making the revocation of land as no surprise to anyone.
“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 be given. He, therefore, turned down the offer.
“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.