FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has directed the Department of Urban Control to demolish new construction being carried out by Paulo Homes at River Park Estate, Abuja.

Wike stated this to reporters at the weekend during an inspection of the estate.

He said the other party in the raging disagreement in the estate, Ghanaian company, Jonah Capital, possessed an expired Development Lease Agreement that prompted the revocation of Certificate of Occupancy in line with clause 9.2 of the DLA.

He also insisted that Paulo Homes was a third party that had no business with FCT Administration, adding that for the Canadian firm to enter into an agreement with a third party was also a contravention of one of the clauses of the lease agreement.

Wike said: “And when I said, I think the lease agreement had expired, no more developments. And what one of them Paulo Homes did was overnight, because he started to do construction in order to tie the hands of the administration, which of course you know we will not succumb to such.

“And so, we sent the Department of Urban Control to come here and demolish every construction going on. And that will continue to do.

“I appeal to those who do not understand, or who may not have known, not to be fooled. Anybody who is doing anything here now, is at his own risk. It will go down.

“No amount of blackmail will stop us. You know, people are going to use government to make money. We are saying that everybody should know. We are not saying that people should not make money, but do things in a way that is supposed to be done”.

He stated that the FCTA had agreed to give back the C of O to all Nigerians who may have either fraudulently obtained or built houses in the estate, saying no body intended to claim their property.

“We are going to invite them. And luckily, the hotel lounge is there. But next week, we are going to invite residents here who own property here for a meeting so that we will tell them what we intend to do. So, there is no cause for alarm,” Wike said. (THISDAY)