FCDA marks nPDP secretariat for demolition

By Chuks Okocha and Daji Sani The Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA) has marked the official secretariat of the splinter group for demolition. The Demolition Control Unit of the FCDA had marked the secretariat of the New PDP, which is located at No. 4. Oyo Crescent by IBB Way, Maitama, Abuja, for demolition on October 11, 2013. The FCDA has also unsealed the Adamawa State Governor's Lodge on Katsina Ala Street, Maitama, Abuja, which was closed by the FCDA about two weeks ago on the grounds that the lodge was being used for political party activities, in contravention of the Abuja master plan. The Adamawa State Government Lodge was sealed by the police on the order of the FCDA. The FCT administration had said it was illegal for the building to have been converted to a political party office, while a plot of land belonging to the Kano State Governor, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, was also revoked on the grounds that it had extended into a green area. But when visited the Adamawa State Governor's Lodge Monday, the private security men at the gate confirmed that the riot policemen drafted to seal off the lodge had stopped coming since last week. Though the security men could not offer a reason why the riot policeman had been withdrawn from the lodge, a solitary policeman was seen guarding the lodge. On the other hand, the situation at the New PDP secretariat was different, as the FCDA Demolition Control Unit had marked the storey building for demolition with a bold red marker which read: “Demolition by DC October 11 2013.” However, the Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), which was stationed at the front of the River Oyi Crescent, had been moved, while the police stationed to monitor the vehicle had also been removed. Only a riot policeman maintaining what could be described as skeletal surveillance around the area was noticed. When the spokesman of the splinter PDP, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze was contacted on the planned demolition of the group’s secretariat, he said: “This will show the level of desperation to which the PDP officials and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, want to use to attack and reduce the opposition in the country.” He wondered what reason there was for the demolition of a building that has its building plans and other documentation, including the Certificate of Occupancy, intact. “This is nothing but desperation,” he said. Similarly, the event centre owned by one of the supporters of the New PDP, Senator Aisha Al Hassan from Taraba State, has also been marked for demolition. She is the owner of the A-Park Gardens located near OAU Quarters in Maitama District, Abuja. The FCDA had served her the demolition notice on the grounds that government wants to use the land as right of way for the Abuja monorail for public transportation. Senator Al Hassan has however maintained that she was given the permission to build the event centre and is threatening to sue the FCDA. Meanwhile, obviously unaware that the Adamawa State Governor's Lodge in Abuja has been unsealed, the factional Chairman of the PDP in Adamawa State, Chief Joel Madaki, has appealed to the FCDA to consider the interest of the generality of Adamawa people by unsealing the lodge. Madaki while addressing newsmen in Yola Monday said the recent closure of the lodge by the FCTA minister was worrisome and pleaded that it should be unsealed, not minding the 48-hour ultimatum issued by the New PDP. The chairman, who was installed by the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, said the Adamawa people should not be made to suffer because of the indiscretion of a single individual, stressing that it was the highest sense of irresponsibility for the state governor, Murtala Nyako, to have turned the lodge to a political office without seeking the consent of the people who elected him to power.(THISDAY).