Olayinka stated this while speaking on Channels TV on Wednesday morning, where he gave a detailed explanation of the controversial land dispute involving the retired naval chief.
The media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, Lere Olayinka, has claimed that former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (retd.), was duped by a company that sold a piece of land meant for park and recreation to him.
Olayinka stated this while speaking on Channels TV on Wednesday morning, where he gave a detailed explanation of the controversial land dispute involving the retired naval chief.
According to him, the land in question, located in Abuja, was originally designated for public use and could not have been legally converted to residential or commercial purposes.
The former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (retd.) was scammed by the company that sold the land to him. The land in question is meant for park and recreation, Olayinka said.
Instead of him to come out and seek help, he resolved to using military might. He doesn’t own the land and he has no document to prove he owns it.
Explaining further, Olayinka gave a background of how the disputed property came to be sold despite its restriction under the Abuja Master Plan.
Let’s go back to how we got to that level. That particular land was allocated to a company in 2007, Santos Estate Limited, for park and recreation. Let me say this again, allocated in 2007 for park and recreation.
The company did not do anything on the land because that place is a parkway, is a walkway, is a road corridor. You don’t build there. Then in 2022, the company wrote to the FCTA, the minister, oh, I want approval from you to convert the purpose to commercial.
From park to build park, you know what park is — not permanent structures. Probably in anticipation of the minister’s approval for conversion, the man decided to partition the land, a land allocated to him for park and recreation. He now partitioned the land and sold to people including the former chief of Naval Staff, and that is why I want to say here that the chief of Naval Staff was duped.”
Olayinka alleged that rather than seek legal recourse, the retired Naval chief attempted to use his military influence to take control of the land.
He added that the matter had already been settled before Wike became FCT minister, stressing that the company had no authority to sell the land.
The minister’s aide maintained that the land’s designation for public and corporate buildings remains unchanged, and that no residential development is legally permitted there.
Now, after selling land allocated to you for park and recreation, for people to build houses, who should the Chief of Naval Staff go and hold? The person who sold or the government? He chose not to hold the company that sold it.
Olayinka further stated that as of now, the former Naval Chief has no valid documentation proving ownership of the land.
As of today, Vice Admiral Gambo does not have a document, a title document showing that he owns the land. He does not own the land, he said.
He also challenged Gambo to show evidence of following due process, including obtaining an approved building plan from the relevant authorities.
