The FCT Administration Debt Recovery Committee on Thursday said property owners in Asokoro, Industrial Area II and Maitama Districts are the highest ground rent debtors.

Mr Muhammad Sule, the Chairman, Media and Publicity sub-Committee Director, Information and Communication, disclosed this in a statement he signed and made available to newsmen in Abuja.

According to him, property owners in Asokoro and Maitama owe 10.67 per cent, 9.43 per cent and 9.29 per cent out of the total sum owed.

Sule said the committee was already fine-tuning legal documentation to take all property owners who had failed to pay, despite repeated warnings, to court for prosecution, revocation or outright forfeiture.

He also said that the committee, in the process of doing its work, had discovered that many of the debtors were title holders in Asokoro, Industrial Area II and Maitama Districts, considered to be highbrow areas in the nation’s capital city, Abuja.

According to him, property owners in Asokoro District alone constitute 10.67 per cent of the ground rent defaulters.

“While the title holders in Industrial Area II and Maitama Districts comprise 9.43 per cent and 9.29 per cent, respectively.

“As the work of the Coordinating Committee on the Recovery of Outstanding Ground Rents of N29,506,643,943.98 owed, the FCT Administration gathers momentum.

“Findings by the administration revealed that property owners in the highbrow areas of Asokoro, Industrial Area II and Maitama Districts are the highest debtors owing 10.67, 9.43 and 9.29 per cent out of the total sum owed.

Also, property owners in other districts, such as Central Business Districts, Industrial Area I and Extension, and Wuse I and II owe the Administration 8.21 per cent, 5.18 per cent, 5.1 per cent, and 4.81 per cent, respectively.”

He explained that title holders in Garki I and II, Katampe and Jabi Districts are in default of 3.4 per cent, 3 per cent, 2.21 per cent, and 2.15 per cent, respectively.

Similarly, he said property owners in other districts like Kukwaba, Gwarinpa I, Gudu, Kado, Karmo, Katampe Extention, Utako, Mabushi, Durumi, Daki-Biyu, Guzape, Jahi, Dutse Wuye, and Institutions and Research are owing various degrees of percentages.

“Thus, the committee is committed to carrying out its assignment as mandated by the FCT Administration whilst all title holders must honour their obligation to clear the debts.

“It is more honourable and responsible for property owners to rush to clear their outstanding debts because it will not be business as usual as the government needs these funds to fast-track the infrastructural development of the FCT.

The FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr Adesola Olusad, recently inaugurated a debt recovery committee with the mandate to recover N29 billion in outstanding debts owed to the FCT Administration.

The committee was directed to focus interest on ground rents and other sundry fees in the Land Administration Department and other stakeholder departments.

Meanwhile, the committee has since dissolved into sub-committees of Publicity, Administration, Legal and Finance, respectively, for effective and diligent execution of its mandate.