Chuks Okocha in Abuja
An Abuja land developer and former House of Representatives member, Hon Linus Ukachukwu, accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike of working to take his duly allocated lands to favour some Lebanese land developers.
Ukachukwu accused Wike of not having an address outside the political arena and as such, lacked the capacity to intimidate him over his recently demolished Abuja property.
Ukachukwu, who questioned the motive of the minister to ridicule his efforts in developing Abuja, said he was given a national honour in 2003 on account of his pioneering role in Abuja property development.
Besides questioning Wike on his address, Ukachukwu asked where was Wike when he was honoured in 2003 for his contributions to housing development.
Ukachukwu, who spoke in an interview on AIT on Wednesday accused Wike and a former minister of the FCT, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai of collaborating with Lebanese developers to take away his land.
Ukachukwu spoke following the minister’s press conference on Tuesday during which Wike accused the Ukachukwu brothers of manipulating the system to get favourable judgments for themselves at the expense of the public good.
But reacting yesterday, Ukachukwu said, “As far back as 2003, I had a national honour as a result of what I had been doing in the housing sector in Abuja. In 2005, my brother had a similar honour.
“How can you call Linus Ukachukwu and Nichoas Ukachukwu land grabbers? We need a serious apology from Wike. Where was Wike in 2003, when a national honour was given to me as a result of developing Abuja? Where was he?
“Is it because of these fake opportunities that they have in the country that lead them to come on television and start harassing the citizens? When you talk of integrity we never go into shady deals,” he said.
Explaining how he got the land, Ukachukwu said: “This land was given in the nineties. I gave the documents showing the ministerial approval to AIT.
“Along the way because of the size of the land, El-Rufai came in and intimidated the first person (allotee) that they gave that land and did all manners of things to try to take that land from him.
“At the end of the day, they went to EFCC, went to court and the court discharged the guy and said there is no forgery on the document. They went to court of Appeal, EFCC lost and they gave up and gave the Certificate of Clearance to the initial person that the land was allocated to.
“That was when we now came in and acquired some of the property and discovered that while the matter was still in the court, that El-Rufai went and gave part of the plot to Sunrise without even revoking our rights.
“So, you can see the impunity. Some of these leaders you need to stop listening to them because they are just bunch of liars. He took part of the land and gave it to Sunrise, (Lebanese) without revoking our title,” he reiterated.
According to Ukachukwu, the immediate past minister of the FCT, Mohammed Bello, had convened a panel to resolve the issue and that the panel found out that the original title with the Ukachukwu brothers remained valid.
He said the former administration, however, pleaded that they should concede the land already developed by Sunrise and go on to develop what was left.
He said contrary to Wike’s claim, the land was resolved in his favour about seven months before the exit of the former administration.
Shedding more light on Wike’s involvement he said, “Along the way, these Lebanese went to Wike and called for a meeting. My brother went for the meeting and in that meeting, Wike started intimidation, he didn’t even want my brother to talk, but Ukachukwu cannot be intimidated because Wike does not have address even to intimidate anybody.
“If he can intimidate, it is not me because I made my money through the grace of God and sweat. I never stole and I never worked for any government. In that meeting, he didn’t even want my brother to talk until my brother raised his voice and said you cannot bring me for a meeting and tell me that I cannot talk and that only my lawyer can talk.”
