FCTA Seals FIRS, Access Bank, Others Over Ground Rent

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has sealed off an office belonging to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in Abuja over alleged non-payment of ground rent on Monday.

The FCTA also closed the premises of Access Bank in Wuse for allegedly not paying for about 34 years of ground rent. A petrol station in Zone 3, Abuja, was also not spared.

This development was confirmed by the Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Media, Mr Lere Olayinka, on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday.

According to reports, FCTA officials had approached the gate to gain entrance into the premises, but rather than that, they faced heavy resistance from the security guards and some staff of the FIRS.

According to the FCTA’s Director of Lands, Mr Chijioke Nwankwoeze, the building, which the FIRS occupies, is part of the properties whose land titles have been revoked by the administration.

After the kerfuffle, the FCTA officials were later allowed in, and proceeded to seal the property located in Zone 5, Wuse.

FCTA as it in recent months embarked on an enforcement exercise to seal up over 4,700 properties owing to non-payment of ground rent.

On March 18, 2025, the FCT administration lamented that over N6 billion had been lost as revenue due to non-compliance by some property owners in the payment of their ground rents for over 10 years.

The administration then went on to revoke the land titles of 4,794 defaulters.