By Becky Momodu
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has ordered a fresh physical enumeration of mechanics and traders at Apo Mechanic Village to ensure that only genuine operators benefit from the planned relocation.
Wike gave the directive on Wednesday in Abuja during a meeting with officials of the FCT Administration and representatives of the Apo Mechanics and Traders Association, following disagreements over previous enumeration and allocation processes.
The Minister directed that the exercise be coordinated through his office under the supervision of his Chief of Staff, the Director of Land Administration, the Director of Urban Planning and the Abuja Municipal Area Council.
He also gave genuine mechanics and traders who may have been omitted from previous lists three days to present themselves for verification.
Wike directed representatives of the two factions within the association to accompany government officials to the workshops during the enumeration, stressing that only operators physically verified at the location would be captured.
He warned against fraudulent entries, non-traders and land speculators, saying individuals who could not be verified would be excluded from the process.
On land allocation, Wike said he would personally sign up to 5,000 individual title documents before the end of the year.
He also assured beneficiaries that the FCT Administration would provide serviced infrastructure at the new location rather than merely allocate plots of land.
The Minister directed that applications and bank statements submitted by private developers and consultants seeking participation in the relocation project be forwarded to his office for scrutiny ahead of a meeting scheduled for October 12.
The meeting also revealed disagreements among leaders of the association over previous stages of the relocation process.
President General of the Apo Trades Association, Chimezie Ifeh, alleged that correspondence from the association to officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority had been ignored since the initial land allocation in 2015.
Ifeh also questioned the enumeration process, claiming that some genuine traders were excluded because the association was not permitted to submit its master list.
However, Acting Coordinating Chairman of Apo Mechanics and Traders, Chinedu Nweke, commended Wike’s intervention, alleging that previous association-generated lists had been compromised by the inclusion of people who were not genuine traders.
Providing details of the relocation arrangement, the Director of Land Administration, Chijioke Nwakwoeze, said an earlier attempt to allocate land in 2015 failed because beneficiaries were issued letters of intent rather than binding development lease agreements.
He explained that under the new arrangement, a statutory Right of Occupancy would be assigned to Abuja Investment Company Limited for management and subdivision, after which the FCT Administration would issue individual and bankable titles to verified beneficiaries.
The relocation project is expected to accommodate more than 4,000 eligible shop owners.
At the meeting, Wike also made a political declaration, saying he would resign as FCT Minister if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu failed to win the 2027 presidential election in either the FCT or Rivers State.
He said he would tender his resignation on January 17, 2027, if the President lost in either territory, while also disclosing plans for a multi-party coalition in the FCT ahead of the elections.
Wike endorsed former Senator Philip Aduda for the Senate and reaffirmed his support for President Tinubu’s re-election bid.
He subsequently urged the mechanics and traders, as well as their families, to support the President and the ruling party, linking their cooperation to the successful implementation of the relocation project.
The two factional leaders at the meeting also expressed support for the Minister’s intervention and the proposed relocation arrangements.
