From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
There were recent media reports of alleged squabbles between the owners of Winning Clause Estate, Gwarimpa, Abuja, and the residents, but the estate developer, Mrs. Obby Okwubanego has spoken out, denying any dispute over ownership of the estate. She says some persons, who own houses within the estate have vowed to pull her down.
Excerpts:
Few days ago, there were media reports that residents in an estate you manage dragged you to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N2 billion fraud. How true are these reports?
I am surprised by the allegations, and as I speak, I have not received letter of invitation by the EFCC or any other anti-graft agency. However, there is no problem with the estate in question. To set the records straight, the estate was duly allocated to Winners Clause Limited by the appropriate FCT authorities. But recently, I read in the papers that some aggrieved residents claimed that I was never a director in the company, among several other allegations. These allegations are funny. If anyone doubts my being a director in the company, I think the best place to get the right answer to that question is the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The records are there for all to verify.
What were the issues that resulted in this running battle?
We got the allocation for that estate in 2011, but before we could mobilise to site, one Kabiru Haruna, who claimed to own Sahara Homes, invaded the land and shared the land to over 100 people. When we got there, we met the houses of the over 100 people at the various stages of completion. We went into prolonged legal battle to reclaim the land and it took us three years to get final court judgement to reclaim it. He allocated some of the lands to journalists, as part of his propaganda and he has used the media to continue to fight me. Another reason for their anger is that their houses were built without a building plan approval by relevant FCT authorities and they feared their houses would be demolished. But because of the sympathy of the government, they decided to carry out integrity test to ascertain the strength and quality of the houses. A consultant was appointed by the Department of Development Control to execute the job. After all the checks, the consultant recommended that beam 05 be introduced to help share the load on the house. This, according to him, was the only alternative to outright demolition of the houses. But the journalists started saying all manner of things and told me that they would use their pen to fight me.
Are there no other persons involved; why do you choose to focus your attention on these four journalists?
I am focussing on them because they have continued to fight me. The write ups of these four journalists are malicious, biased and unsubstantiated. They have exaggerated the entire drama to please themselves. Apart from the journalists, we have other highly placed people, living there and we don’t have problems with them because they have cooperated with us all the way. What they are writing now is not new, only that they are presenting it with different headlines and dates. For example, they claimed that there are 350 units of houses there but that was not true. We have 137 duplexes built on the land. In fact, when they confronted me as the crisis degenerated, they told me to my face that their house must not go down otherwise the estate would become history. And I have said consistently that I would not bow to their threat.
What are their demands?
One of them, Mr. Uwugiaren, built his house on the fence line of my estate. This was because the man that gave him the land was not the genuine person that was allotted the land and did not know the boundaries. So, when officers from the FCT DDC came for approval, they insisted that they won’t approve his own because of the obvious violations in the use of the land. They marked the house for demolition. He visited my office several times to discuss the way out. I requested for mandate from him in writing, and insisted that it must be handwritten and he did. On one of the several occasions that I visited the DDC, I raised the issue but the officials maintained that the only option left is the redesigning of Ring Road 3, which is practically impossible. I communicated the outcome of our meetings with him but instead of seeking another means, he told me to my face that if his house must go down, then the estate would be turned into rubbles through his pen. And he has carried that threat to the letter. But one thing is that you can mislead the people through the instrument of press, but when the truth and fact is presented, the oppressed would be vindicated.
The petition written against you to the EFCC has more than four signatures, but why has your attention remained on these four journalists?
The letter to EFCC does not give space for more than four signatures. One Michael had claimed that he is the Chairman of the Residents’ Association, but remember that there is mass housing department and private residential estate. In my case, I am running mass housing guidelines, which have no provision for residents’ association. Under the mass housing guidelines, the developer is expected to finish the housing and hand over the identity of subscribers to mass housing department for them to get their certificates. As far as I am concerned, I do not recognise any residents association and they do not exist.
Did you ever call for renegotiation meeting with the subscribers when your company reclaimed the estate?
I did not just jump in to take over the estate, it was handed over to me through the judgement of a competent court of jurisdiction. There’s a paragraph in the court judgement that stated clearly that everything that is found in the land automatically belongs to the rightful title owner. The judgement couldn’t have been more explicit than this. Mind you that Sahara Homes was never party to the judgement. In fact, the residents were supposed to have descended hard on Sahara Homes that first gave them fake papers and allocated lands to them, and not transfer aggression to the man, who is working hard to perfect their papers and make their stay legitimate.
I said earlier that there are 137 duplexes in the estate; others are cooperating with us but these four journalists are the ones giving me more trouble and writing all manner of lies, using their various media platforms. They have written several petitions to different security agencies. As if that was not enough, they have written and submitted petitions to FCT Minister, FCT Department of Mass Housing, DSS, FCT Commissioner of Police and several other organisations, claiming what is wrong.
In one of the petitions, they claimed that I masterminded the invasion the estate by armed robbery gang and planned other criminal onslaughts against them. The CP was worried and took it upon himself to investigate the matter. Despite that, they continued to feed the people with false information the way they like. They cook up the stories and syndicate it to other media houses for publication. They also extend it to online and blogs and these stories would be published about me without asking to hear my own side of the story. That is the more reason I commend The Sun Newspapers that insisted on balancing their report by seeking my own side of the story.
Have you ever made any effort for peace by bringing all parties to table to discuss the issues?
Yes. One of the journalists owns three houses in the estate. He has paid his bills but he has continued the fight simply because his friend/colleague’s house was marked for demolition. It’s obviously the case of comradeship. Over 70 per cent of subscribers in the estate have paid their dues and have moved on with life, with their letters of allocation in their hands. But Iyiobosa does not have even N20, 000 indication form; we refused to absorb him because his house is not within our land.
The FCT Department of Mass Housing invited me and I reported there on agreed date and gave them my own side of the story. However, I believe that the other organisations that were petitioned are still doing their underground investigations before they would either respond by inviting me or trash the petition for lack of basis for discussion. I guess some of them must have responded to Iyiobosa’s group, stating that the only title they recognise on the property is Winning Clause Nigeria Limited (WCL) and we are at peace with all of them.
How true is the allegation that you are only after money and don’t care about developing infrastructure and basic amenities in the estate ?
We inherited unprocessed land from a man, who stole the land from us. Mass housing guidelines stipulate that you key into the scheme and do your paper works diligently. That process takes a minimum of one year to get it perfected but otherwise was the case in our estate. Most of the things there were done upside down, and when we came there, we began to perfect the wrongs that were earlier done. One of the things needed there was perimeter fence and gatehouse and that has been erected. Power installations were provided for few people that were living there. One of the most important things is the access road. We advertised the job and contractors bidded for it. At the end, Paul B emerged the preferred bidder for the job. We even borrowed money from the bank to mobilise for the work. But out of nowhere, Iyiobosa and his group emerged and wrote to me that they didn’t want road again. They frustrated and pushed the contractor away. Right now, Paul B is with part of the money we paid for mobilisation. It’s amazing to me that these guys own properties elsewhere and they are fully complying with the rules and regulations but have vowed to destroy mine but they will fail woefully.
Is there any room for reconciliation with the four aggrieved journalists?
We are a reputable company that is open to suggestions and advice on the best ways to run and serve the estate residents better. Regrettably, a couple that volunteered to help in resolving the issues were accused of espionage by this Iyiobosa and his group. However, our doors are open to all and we advise them to sheathe their swords and proffer solutions to whatever challenges they observed for the good of all.