Tuesday, August 18, 2026 - The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has ordered the immediate demolition of houses built on designated waterways in Abuja.
Wike gave the directive on Tuesday after
inspecting areas affected by flooding in Maitama and other parts of the Federal
Capital Territory.
He said the demolition would begin immediately and continue
until Saturday, stressing that the exercise would not be stopped because
of political activities or the status of the owners of the affected properties.
According to the minister, several buildings had been
constructed on waterways mapped out in the Abuja Master Plan for the movement
of stormwater.
“We will pull down every house built on the water channels,
regardless of who owns them. Some of the affected properties belong to senators
and other influential people, but the law will apply to everyone,” Wike said.
He said the demolition would go ahead irrespective of the
election period, stressing that enforcing the law and doing what was right
would not cause any harm.
Wike said the recent flooding had exposed the impact of
human activities on flooding in the capital, alongside the effects of heavy
rainfall and climate change.
“The major factors worsening flooding in Abuja include
buildings constructed on waterways, blocked drainage channels, indiscriminate
dumping of refuse and the failure to properly maintain and desilt drainage
systems,” he said.
The minister said an inspection of some affected areas
showed that property owners had blocked channels that were originally provided
in the Abuja Master Plan to allow water to flow.
“Unfortunately, we have gone there, and we have seen how
people have blocked channels where, in the Master Plan, that is the right way
where the water is supposed to be channelled,” he said.
Wike noted that many of the affected buildings belonged to
wealthy Nigerians and had existed for several years.
He said the government would no longer allow wealth or
influence to shield anyone from enforcement of planning regulations.
“All those built-up areas that were not supposed to be built
up, not a single poor person will live there. Those houses are houses built by
well-to-do Nigerians,” he said.
The minister said some of the illegal developments had been
in place for between eight and 10 years, suggesting that previous
administrations may not have had enough political will to enforce the
regulations.
He, however, insisted that the current FCT Administration
was prepared to take action.
Wike warned that anyone who believed the current
administration lacked the political will to take decisive action would be
seriously mistaken.
“If there is one minister that has that political will, I
have. I have the political will.”
Wike also directed relevant FCT authorities to immediately
begin desilting drainage channels identified as contributing to flooding.
He called on residents, traders and other members of the
public to stop throwing refuse into drainage channels, warning that such
practices could worsen flooding.
The minister said the flooding should not be reduced to a
political issue, noting that flooding was a natural phenomenon that had
affected major cities in different parts of the world.
He acknowledged that climate change and unusually heavy
rainfall could contribute to flooding but maintained that human activities also
played an important role.
“We are in a climate change period. The kind of rains we
have experienced, or we are experiencing now, we have not experienced before.
But that is not that there are no man-made factors. There are,” he said.
Wike said the demolition exercise would continue despite
concerns that it could attract political criticism during the election season.
He directed the FCT Development Control Department not to
delay the exercise.
The minister also said the administration would continue to
protect designated green areas and enforce Abuja’s planning regulations,
regardless of how long an illegal development had existed.
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