By Chidera Orji

The residents of CRD Layout in Lugbe, Abuja have commended the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Barr Nyesom Wike over what they described as his unusual development strides in the territory, especially in areas of infrastructural, health, education and human capital development in Abuja, since assuming duty as the Minister of the nation’s seat of power.

The residents, who spoke yesterday through Mr. Adeniyi Balogun during an interview with journalists at Lugbe, noted in particular the massive transformation of FCT especially in the area of road infrastructure, where virtually all the major roads that were hitherto bad had been reconstructed and given a new lease of life.

” Not only the roads that are benefiting from the Minister’s magic touch, the hospitals, schools, drinking water and human capital development are also at the forefront of receiving attention from this wonderful Minister that God has blessed the Abuja with.”

The residents while praising Wike for a work well-done, also solicited for his intervention on the massive encroachment being witnessed currently at CRD Layout in Lugbe, where a developer, Mr. Paul Odili and company Paulo Homes are involved in encroachment and land grabbing in CRD Layout, additing that Paulo Homes has continued to encroach on the CRD land by building houses in the layout, and using thugs to intimidate residents and stakeholders in conjunction with Riverpack police personnel in Lugbe, despite the case being in a court of competent jurisdiction.

The residents through Mr. Adeniyi Balogun noted that in the past, the FCDA had written and cautioned Paulo Homes for encroachment on different four layouts including CRD Layout. But regretted that Paulo Homes didn’t heed to the caution by the FCDA, and still made another illegal encroachment attempt within CRD Layout.

“The Paulo Homes refused to listen to the caution of FCDA. It’s important to inform the Minister for FCT that Riverpark Estate and Paulo Homes are the only Estates in Abuja that have no measured land.

The residents alleged that Paulo Home, last week , came inside CRD Layout with their thugs but the Police in Riverplate police station claimed that they were on the site to protect the illegal thugs and labourers grabbing the community land.

The residents pleaded with the Minister to as a matter of urgency order for the arrest of the owner of Paulo Homes, Mr Paul Odili, for his continuous disobedience to court order, and equally revoke all the land spaces so far encroached upon by Paulo Homes in CRD layout in Lugbe area of Abuja.

” Our plea to Wike is to intervene in this protracted land grabbing by Paulo Homes on our layout by revoking the ones the estate company had so far taken from CRD layout. The minster should also order for the arrest of the man behind the Paulo Homes, Mr Paul Odili, who is not obeying the directives of FCDA on the layout.”

Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, has said he would become the first target if President Bola Tinubu loses the 2027 presidential election to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar or Peter Obi.

Wike, who has been supporting Tinubu despite being a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said he was fully aware of the consequences of the position he had taken.

Speaking during a media chat, Wike said: “I will be the first politician that I think they will come after. I will be the first politician. I know they will come for my head.”

Wike said in spite of the possibility of political consequences, his resolve to campaign for and support Tunubu remains strong.

“Each day I sleep, I am thinking about the president’s reelection. When I am eating, I think about the president’s reelection. Everything I am doing now is about the president’s reelection,” he stated.

The former Rivers State governor said the criticism directed at him over his political position had been unusually intense.
But he maintained that he was not concerned about the names he had been called or the opinions expressed by his critics.

“I don’t see where anybody in this country today has been called names the way my name has been. I am not bothered about people who say their [own] thing. My business is, like I said, I am going to support Mr President,” he said..

By Chidera Orji
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‎PRP FCT senatorial aspirant, Dr Juliet Hasana-Moneme, has promised to make skills acquisition, economic empowerment and access to credit facilities key priorities for women if elected to the Senate.
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‎Speaking during a media engagement organised by the League of Anambra Journalists in Abuja (LAJA), Moneme said women in the Federal Capital Territory should be able to hold her accountable for delivering on the three commitments.
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‎“Every woman in the FCT should hold me accountable for women skills acquisition, for women empowerment, and for women access to credit facilities or grants that are available in the city,” she said.
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‎Moneme said her proposed approach would be based on identifying residents and their needs through a structured database covering the FCT’s six area councils, wards and communities.
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‎She said the database would help government and community stakeholders understand the needs of residents and connect them with available opportunities, including education, credit and other support programmes.
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‎The senatorial aspirant also said she would seek to ensure that constituency empowerment programmes were designed as sustainable interventions rather than one-off handouts.
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‎Drawing from her previous community initiatives, she said her preferred model was a revolving fund in which beneficiaries could repay and allow others to access the same pool of resources.
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‎Moneme said her experience working with women and young people had shown that sustainable empowerment required more than simply giving people money.
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‎She said the goal was to connect people’s potential with the resources and opportunities needed to turn that potential into sustainable livelihoods.