Buhari Housing Projects: Farmers receive cheques for compensation

By Stanley Onyekwere

To pave way for the full commencement of the Muhammadu Buhari Affordable Housing Projects, the FCT  Administration has flagged off the payment of cheques to farmers in Karshi satellite town, in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

A statement from the Public Relations Officer (P.R.O), Department of Resettlement and Compensation of the Federal Development Authority  (FCDA), Felicia Anthony Okoro, which was made available to newsmen yesterday, disclosed that  the initiative, is in line with the mandate of the Administration to partner with private developers to provide houses to her teaming staff to alleviate the housing deficit in the capital city.

Coordinator, Satellite Town Development Department (STDD), Comrade Obinna Francis Ogwuegbu, who stood in for the Hon Minister of State FCT, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, at a brief stakeholders meeting, Monday, noted that the Administration was particularly pleased that the project was finally coming to fruition months after the  initial hiccups experienced after the ground breaking ceremony last year.

Ogwuegbu, said the final take off  goes to show the premium investors have in the template the administrator has developed towards providing infrastructure, opening up the satellite tows, as well as providing housing for Nigerians in dire need of accomodations across the capital city.

He adds: “The fact that investors can go out of their way to put their money down for compensation   despite the fact that they are going to build houses in collaboration and partnership with the FCTA Administration is highly commendable.

He further disclosed that  the office  painstakingly went through every record of the beneficiaries  over a long period of time to ensure that proper figures and exact persons were enumerated  and compensated  inline with it’s extant laws  as enshrined in the constitution.

Earlier, the Director Resettlement and Compensation, Perpetual Ohamah explained that  it does not matter how long it has taken for this project to commence as her office did everything to ensure that international best practices were followed. 

She commended   the Sarki of Karshi and his people  for their patience and cooperation saying that the citing of this new project will no doubt bring about the needed development to  the area. 

“Like you know, the job of my Department is that of preliminary works for every project that has to do with land in the FCT and for this particular one as well, we have had to do the valuation and follow up to make sure money was made available for us to pay the indigenes”, she stated.