Why we can’t force Abuja landlords to reduce rent – Wike
By Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja
Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has explained the inability of government to force landlords in the territory to bring down the cost of rent, which he said is market-driven.
Noting that such an order could be counterproductive and limit investments in real estate, the minister said the immediate priority of his administration is to focus on other areas of human development that would benefit everyone and ultimately lead to a crash in the overall cost of living.
The minister spoke on Saturday when he inspected the Zeberced Quarry in Kubwa, Abuja, which he described as the largest in West Africa.
His words: “No government puts a cap as regards the cost of rent. It is the market forces. You are aware that everything has actually increased because of costs. The man who built the house didn’t build that he would not make profit at the end of the day. I don’t agree with people always complaining about rent increases, there are increases in everything today, so rent should not be singled out. Do you want us to make a law and say that a 2-bed room flat should not be more than N50,000 or N100,000, for example? I don’t think you are encouraging investors. That is not our major problem now”, he stated.
Speaking on his impression of the quarry, Wike said with what he saw on ground, the cost of construction ought not to be very expensive.
“I have not been here before, but I have taken the opportunity to look at the environment and see what they are doing. That shows that ordinarily, the cost of construction ought not to be very expensive, particularly in the FCT.
“Apart from equipment that is being imported, that is used for this quarry, the raw material is available here, and I wonder why contractors should be talking about cost of aggregates as if these are imported. These are not imported, they are made here.
“So I really want to encourage the company. It is really amazing that we have this type of manufacturing going on here. This is the same company that is trying to build the industrial park in Idu, and we are going to give them all the necessary support. Just yesterday, I sent out a letter to the Ministry of Finance to get some tax credit to enable them to carry out the other one-carrier way to make it a double carriage,” he stated.
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