Should the National Electricity Power Authority be privatized?
Abuja: AIPDC Plots to Snatch 630 Shops from Owners
By Malachy Agbo, 12.11.2004
A fresh crisis appears to be brewing in Abuja again over landed property as as Abuja Investment and Property Development Company Limited (AIPDC) has perfected moves to dispossess some people of their ownership of 630 shops in the ultra modern Gudu Market. In the fresh on-slaught, AIPDC has ordered owners of shops measuring 15 feet by 18 feet (warehouse) to pay additional N560,308 to the original fee of N868,377 within one month or lose the property. The construction has been nearly fully completed before AIPDC took over the market from Gudu Market Implementation Committee about three months ago. In like manner, owners of shops for restaurants who had paid N1.277 million before are being asked to cough out additional N1.052m. Specialised shops which attracted N2.053 million before now has its price increased to N3.447 million. Ditto for retail shop which is now N980,712 from N590,000. When THISDAY visited AIPDC office in the market on Wednesday, only about 50 people had come to collect papers for payment of the new bills barely a week to the end of the one month deadline, an indication that the decision did not go down well with the people who felt that AIPDC is pursuing its original agenda to snatch the shops from them. Before it took over the market three months ago, AIPDC had obtained an approval from the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Ahmed el-Rufai to, among other things, take over ownership of the market and lease it out to the individuals who had paid for the construction. In the payments made to the Gudu Market Implementation Committee, which constructed the shops, the cost of allotment fee for a warehouse was N162,000 while the cost of construction of the structure was put at N696,377. The allotment fee was supposed to include costs of the land in this case 15ft by 18feet, and infrastructures like roads, drainages, parking spaces and walkways all of which have been fully completed. A report on the project by Engineer Y.S. Mohammed, Chairman of Gudu District Market Implementation Committee showed that “Tenders were received for basic infrastructure from reputable construction firms which was finally awarded to Dantata and Sawoe in 1998 at the sum of N59.012m. The project has reached 100% completion and was funded from money realised from the allotment fee.” But the AIPDC is asking owners to pay for what had been paid and executed before. Out of the additional N560,308 to be paid for a warehouse for example, N240,605 is for infrastructure, N121,317 is for land cost (15ft by 18ft) and N9,586 for operations cost. It is also charging 5% agency fee put at N61,494, conveyance, N15,000 and service charge N112,304. Since AIPDC took over the market, the only visible work it has done are the completion of the roofing of a few of the shops, completion of internal electrical wiring and the clearing of debris from the site. The only other major task that remains to be done is to connect the market to the NEPA low tension wire, which is less than 50 metres from the market. Contrary to the threat of AIPDC in its report seeking approval from EL-Rufai to demolish some of the fire-proof red block structures because they were too close, the company is now constructing additional structurtes on a portion of one of the spaces meant for packing of vehicles in the market.
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