The Senate on Wednesday set aside a motion seeking to compel the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to suspend ongoing land revocations and reallocations in Abuja, ruling that key aspects of the proposal violated Senate procedures.
The motion, sponsored by the senator representing the FCT, Ireti Kingibe, was withdrawn during plenary after a majority of senators objected to the inclusion of land revocation allegations under matters of urgent national importance.
Mr Wike, through the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), has overseen widespread demolitions and land reallocations across Abuja, which the administration says are aimed at enforcing compliance with the city’s Master Plan. The FCTA maintains that many of the affected properties lacked valid titles or violated approved land-use plans, arguing that previous administrations allowed widespread infractions that distorted Abuja’s development framework.
Although Mrs Kingibe raised concerns over these actions, the Senate ruled that land-related issues did not qualify as urgent national importance and directed her to withdraw the motion.
Earlier, Mrs Kingibe had invoked Orders 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Orders to introduce the motion without prior notice, explaining that she had informed and obtained consent from Senate President Godswill Akpabio before presenting it.
The proposal called for Senate intervention in what she described as the worsening waste management and sewage situation in the FCT, the protection of designated green areas, and an investigation into the alleged unlawful takeover of land belonging to Bwari General Hospital.
While presenting the motion, the FCT senator lamented what she said was the collapse of refuse collection across several parts of Abuja, with heaps of waste littering residential, commercial and public spaces. She attributed the situation to the prolonged non-payment of contractors and workers under the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and other FCT agencies, alleging that some had gone unpaid for about nine months.
According to her, the resulting industrial actions had crippled essential municipal services. She further claimed that despite outstanding debts between March and October 2025, the FCT administration awarded new waste management contracts, retaining only about half of the unpaid contractors while engaging new ones.
Mrs Kingibe said the newly appointed contractors had reportedly written to the minister, warning that operations could not commence without a 30 per cent mobilisation fee, a development she argued had worsened the refuse crisis.
She warned that prolonged sewage blockages and waste accumulation, now stretching close to eight months, posed serious public health risks, including outbreaks of waterborne diseases and environmental pollution.
The senator also accused the FCT administration of proceeding with demolitions and land reallocations despite ongoing court cases, arguing that such actions undermined the rule of law. Citing disputes involving the University of Abuja, she said the steps violated the FCT Act of 1976, the Land Use Act of 1978, and Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empowers the National Assembly to investigate administrative conduct in the public interest.
She urged the Senate to direct the FCT minister and the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to suspend all land revocations, reallocations and alterations to green areas pending a comprehensive audit of compliance with the Abuja Master Plan.
During deliberations, several senators opposed the inclusion of land matters in the motion. Senator Tahir Monguno (Borno North), who initially supported the motion, later withdrew his backing.
The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, dismissed the allegations against the FCT minister, praising Mr Wike’s performance.
“There are now developments in the FCT. The current minister has changed the face of Abuja. He’s doing extremely well. You cannot solve all problems at the same time,” he said, suggesting that relevant Senate committees engage the minister instead.
Similarly, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele argued that motions raised under urgent national importance must be genuinely national in scope, adding that the allegations should be presented as a substantive motion with prior notice.
In his ruling, Mr Akpabio maintained that Mrs Kingibe had only received approval to raise issues related to waste management, insisting that land revocations fell outside that scope.
Following the exchanges, the Senate President directed Mrs Kingibe to withdraw the motion, which she accepted.
“I will re-present it as a substantive motion on waste management,” she said.
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