You have no authority over FCTA land, Wike replies ASUU
You have no authority over FCTA land, Wike replies ASUU
Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), says his administration is unfazed by legal action and industrial threats from the Abuja chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Speaking during his monthly media chat on Thursday in Port Harcourt, Wike dismissed the strike threat issued by the university’s union, over the administration’s reallocation of portions of the institution’s land to private developers and government agencies.
The minister queried the locus standi of ASUU on statutory land allocation matters.
He said the trade unions have no mandate or authority over land administration in the nation’s capital.
Wike dismissed the union’s claims of land grabbing, saying land ownership and master plan enforcement fall strictly within the jurisdiction of the FCTA.
“What is the business of ASUU on our land? How is ASUU the owner of land? Is ASUU the owner of the union in Nigeria now? Is it the union’s right?” Wike asked.
He said the FCTA’s action represents a lawful continuum of government policy and urban planning.
Wike noted that if the union chooses to seek judicial redress, the FCTA is fully prepared to defend its constitutional rights and statutory duties.
The minister criticised the union’s leadership for using strike threats as leverage.
He said the union should respect public service procedures and refrain from blackmailing the administration.
Wike said the administration’s decisions regarding unused land recovery would proceed.
He added that federal institutions cannot arbitrarily fence off thousands of hectares without proper documentation, approvals, and utilisation.
On Tuesday, ASUU at the university threatened industrial action if Wike does not rescind his alleged decision to encroach on the institution’s land.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, Sylvanus Ugoh, chairman of the chapter’s union, said the branch would take legal steps to resist the takeover of university land for allocation to private individuals and companies.
Ugoh said the union would not allow the university’s land to be taken for private use, describing the alleged action as contrary to public interest.
He said land acquired for public purposes should not be appropriated for private interests.
