Abuja Residents Celebrate As Court Declares Tenement Rates Collection Illegal

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO, ABUJA – It is celebration time for residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as an Abuja High Court sitting in Apo has proscribed tenement rates in all the six Area Councils until it is backed by an act of the National Assembly.

The Area Councils are Abaji, Abuja Municipal (AMAC), Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali

In the case between Planned Shelter Vs AMAC and six others, Justice Valentine Ashi of Apo High Court 28 declared as unlawful the demand for and collection of tenement rates by all the Area Councils

Delivering his judgment, Justice Ashi Justice Ashi declared that since there is no Act of the National Assembly to back up their position, the Area Council will be embarking on an unlawful act demanding and collecting tenement rate from residents.

Justice Ashi, who acknowledged that the 1999 Constitution as amended made provisions for tenement rates, however maintained that there must be an Act of the National Assembly that defines the process for assessing; collecting; and enforcing the levy.

Accordingly, he ruled that in the absence of such an Act, the six FCT Area Councils erred in law in their demand to collect such rates from the FCT residents.

Of recent, collection of tenement rate, deployed by state governments as well as the FCT as revenue source for development purposes has remained contentious between the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the six FCT Area Councils as to the right of collection with the Councils insisting that it is within their purview as the grassroots government.

However, in his reaction to the ruling, FCTA Solicitor General, Yusuf H. Wodi, described the judgment as proper and in line with the provisions of the 199 Constitution as amended.

Residents of the territory have been at loggerhead with the authorities over what they described as “outrageous charges” contained in the ‘Tenement Rate Demand Notice’ by AMAC.

Some of the residents who spoke with Forefront complained that the rates, ranging between N100,000 and N200,000 per annum in areas like Wuse 2, Maitama and Garki among others, were fixed arbitrarily without reference to any existing rules of engagement and/or benchmark.