The Senate on Wednesday, set aside a motion calling on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to suspend land revocations and reallocations in Abuja, after lawmakers ruled that parts of the proposal violated Senate procedures.
The motion, sponsored by the senator representing the FCT, Ireti Kingibe, was withdrawn at plenary following objections from a majority of senators, who faulted the inclusion of land revocation allegations under matters of urgent national importance.
Mr Wike, through the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), had supervised the demolition of several structures across Abuja, actions the authorities say were necessary to enforce compliance with the city’s Master Plan.
In addition to demolitions, the FCTA has revoked and reassigned land titles, in some cases allocating them to new beneficiaries.
The FCTA has consistently argued that many of the affected properties either lacked valid titles or contravened approved land-use plans, maintaining that past administrations tolerated widespread violations that distorted the Abuja Master Plan.
Although Mrs Kingibe raised concerns over the developments during plenary, the Senate ruled that the motion did not qualify as urgent national importance and directed her to withdraw it.
Earlier in the sitting, Mrs Kingibe relied on Orders 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Orders to introduce a motion she described as urgent, noting that such motions could be entertained without prior notice if the presiding officer granted approval.
She explained that she had informed the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of her intention and obtained his consent before presenting the motion.
The proposal sought Senate intervention on deteriorating waste management and sewage services in the FCT, protection of designated green areas, and an investigation into the alleged unlawful takeover of land belonging to Bwari General Hospital.
While presenting the motion, the FCT senator lamented that refuse collection had reportedly collapsed across several districts of Abuja, leading to heaps of waste in residential, commercial and public spaces.
She attributed the situation to the prolonged non-payment of contractors and workers under the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and other FCT agencies, saying they had allegedly gone unpaid for about nine months.
According to her, the resulting industrial actions crippled essential municipal services.
Mrs Kingibe further alleged that despite outstanding debts to contractors between March and October 2025, the FCT administration awarded fresh waste management contracts, retaining only about half of the unpaid contractors while engaging new ones.
She claimed the newly appointed contractors had written to the minister, stating that operations could not commence without a 30 per cent mobilisation fee, a development she said had worsened the refuse crisis.
She warned that prolonged sewage blockages and waste accumulation now stretching close to eight months, posed serious public health dangers, including the risk of waterborne diseases and environmental pollution.
The senator also accused the FCT administration of proceeding with demolitions and land reallocations despite ongoing court cases, actions she said undermined the rule of law.
Referring to a dispute involving the University of Abuja, she argued that such steps violated the FCT Act of 1976, the Land Use Act of 1978, and Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empowers the National Assembly to investigate administrative conduct in the public interest.
She urged the Senate to direct the FCT minister and the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, to suspend all land revocations, reallocations and alterations to green areas pending a comprehensive audit of compliance with the Abuja Master Plan.
During deliberations, several senators opposed the inclusion of land matters in the motion.
Borno North Senator, Tahir Monguno, who initially supported the motion, later withdrew his backing.
The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, dismissed the allegations against the FCT minister.
“There are now developments in the FCT. The current minister changed the face of Abuja. He’s doing extremely very well.
You cannot solve all problems at the same time. If there are other areas that needed to be done, we should engage our committee to interact with the minister so that he could do more,” he said.
The Senate maintained that Mrs Kingibe had only obtained approval to raise issues relating to waste management, insisting that land revocations did not meet the threshold of urgent national importance.
Similarly, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, argued that matters presented under urgent national importance must be genuinely national in scope, adding that the allegations should instead be brought forward as a substantive motion with prior notice.
Following the exchanges, Mr Akpabio asked Mrs Kingibe to withdraw the motion, a directive she accepted.
“I will re-present it as a substantive motion on waste management,” she said.
