The Federal Capital Territory Administration(FCTA) has threatened to close 34 embassies in Abuja due to unpaid ground rentals that have been outstanding for 11 years, according to reports.
However, the PUNCH discovered that the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party—all of which were classified as defaulters—had paid the FCTA their ground rent.
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A publication by the FCTA revealed that many foreign missions had not paid their ground rents since 2014, with the affected diplomatic missions collectively owing N3,662,196.
On May 26, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike gave officials the order to start enforcing the 4,794 properties that had been cancelled for not paying ground rent for a period ranging from 10 to 43 years.
However, in response, President Bola Tinubu gave impacted property owners a 14-day grace period, ending Monday (today), to pay off their outstanding debts.
The defaulters would be required to pay penalty fines of N2 million and N3 million, respectively, based on their locations, according to FCTA’s Director of Land, Chijioke Nwankwoeze.
The defaulting embassies include the Ghana High Commission Defence Section (N5,950); Embassy of Thailand (N5,350), Embassy of Côte d’Ivoire (N5,500); Embassy of the Russian Federation (N1,100); Embassy of the Philippines (N5,950); Royal Netherlands Embassy (N5,950); Embassy of Turkey (N3,350), and the Embassy of the Republic of Guinea (N5,950).
Also included are the embassies of Ireland (N500), Uganda (N5,950), Iraq (N550), and the Zambia High Commission, which owes (N1,189,990).
Other missions on the list include the Tanzania High Commission (N6,000), German Embassy (N1,000), Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (N5,950), Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (N459,055), Embassy of the Republic of Korea (N5,950), and the High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago (N500).
The Embassy of Egypt (N5,950), Embassy of Chad (N5,950), Sierra Leone Commission (N5,900), High Commission of India (N150), Embassy of Sudan (N5,950), Embassy of Niger Republic (N500), and Kenya High Commission (N5,950) are also listed among the defaulters.
Others are the embassies of Zimbabwe (N500), Ethiopia (N5,950), and Indonesia (Defence Attaché), which has an outstanding balance of (N1,718,211).
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The Delegation of the European Union (N1,500), Embassy of Switzerland (N5,950), Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia (N5,950), China’s Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office (N12,000), South African High Commission (N4,950), and the Government of Equatorial Guinea (N1,137,240) also featured on the list.
Responding to this, the Embassy of the Russian Federation firmly denied any outstanding debts.
Charles Onunaiju, a foreign affairs specialist, has questioned whether ground rent regulations are appropriate for diplomatic posts, claiming that international law prohibits such practice.
He warned that any enforcement action against embassies could trigger diplomatic fallout.
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