News
FCT residents and the Tenement Rate bills
By Nkiru Zikora
There is a great outcry by the residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja over exorbitant and excessive tenement rate being levied on them. Besides the exorbitant value of the tenement rate, residents living in newly developed estates also complain of being levied tenement rates in arrears for periods that the properties were under development or unoccupied.
Tenement rate is a tax imposed on developed and occupied properties within a local government jurisdiction by the Local Government Authority or as is the case of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Area Council Authority. The powers of local government/area council authority to assess, levy and collect tenement rate on properties within their jurisdiction is derived in pursuant to the provisions of Section 7 and the 4thSchedule to the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and Taxes and Levies (Approved List of Collection) Act No. 21 of 1998. Tenement rates are levied only on developed and occupied properties. Undeveloped and or unoccupied properties cannot and must not be levied.
A quick view of FCT’s Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Tenement Rate Collection Bye-Law (No. 22) 2012 as amended gazetted in 2019 reveals the establishment of a valuation office which shall be under the supervision of the Local Government Revenue Committee to carry out the assessment of all rateable properties within the area council [Section 1(1)].
Section 1(4) states that valuation office shall consist of a Head of Valuation and such number of staff necessary to assist the head of valuation. Further, section 3 stipulates the appointment of a qualified Estate Surveyor and Valuer registered with the Estate Surveyor and Valuers Registration Board to work under the control and supervision of the Head of valuation to assess the rateable properties.
While Section 4 requires the appraiser to gather all the information orally or written as the case maybe and which may affect the assessed value of a tenement. This is to enable him to give a proper assessment of the property. The Tenement Rate Bye-Law for Bwari Area Council revealed that it is about the same with that of AMAC. So both the AMAC and Bwari Area Council’s tenement rates are provided to be at uniform rate of 4k per Nairage of the calculated assessed value (annual value).
The tenement rate is usually levied and paid annually by the property occupant and the amount payable each year is to be assessed based on the annual value of the subject property. The tug of war however still rage between the landlord and the tenant concerning whose responsibility it is to pay the tenement rates.
As stated already, the law provides that it is the responsibility of the occupier of the property to pay tenement rate and other rates, bills or charges on a rented or leased property. To avoid any conflict arising from the usual debate about whose responsibility tenement rate payments fall, it is advisable to spell this out in the tenancy agreement. This helps bring clarity from the beginning of the tenancy relationship between the Landlord and tenant on who is responsible to pay tenement and other rates. However, in the event where such provisions are not clearly stated in the tenancy agreement, by operation of the law, the occupier of the property, usually the tenant bears the primary liability to pay the tenement rate whether the provision is specified in the tenancy agreement or not.
No doubt, the Local Government/Area Council Authorities have the right by law to assess, levy and collect tenement rate on developed and occupied properties within their areas of jurisdiction. However, there is need for the FCT local authorities to continue to create awareness about the legality of tenement rates.
They should equally endeavour to address the strident outcry about what these residents consider as arbitrary and excessive rates imposed on their properties especially in the light of the current harsh economic climate. Occupiers of property continue to insist that their properties were not assessed given that they were never visited by the rating agents to secure necessary information needed for the computation of their property rateable value.
Though the imposition of taxes or rates on the populace especially property taxes may seem a very attractive way through which the government raises revenue, it must be carefully handled to avoid impoverishing the more the already poor masses. There is the urgent need therefore for the FCT Area Councils to consider the dire economic situation in Nigeria presently and ensure that the tenement rates are judiciously assessed and computed as is stipulated in the law.
Zikora, an Estate Surveyor and Valuer, writes from Abuja.
Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, finally threw his hats into the ring by declaring his intention to run for president in 2027, with a message – history beckons.
The governor, whose ambition has been a matter of speculations for months now and who had teamed up with forces angling to force President Bola Tinubu, out of power, told a teeming crowd in Ibadan on Thursday that time had come to reset Nigeria.
At a mega-rally to announce the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, (APM), Makinde, expressed worry over the dwindling fortunes of Nigerians, vowing to engage Nigerians to end the drift.
Hear him: “Without a multi-party system, there is no democracy. Where is our multi-party? Where do we go from here? We have been pushed to the wall.
“They calculated and self-opposition cannot unite but I am here to say that the opposition is the everyday Nigerian. This is the time for all us to ensure Nigeria works for us. This is the time to confront it fears. It is time to engage as citizens and not spectators.
“For the opposition political parties, this is the time to unite and work in unity and give our nation the much reset it needs. The time to reset Nigeria is now. Ibadan is the city of warriors. The first grand alliance is formed. The PDP and APM is formed. This handshake will allow us to field candidates from presidency to state Assembly. And so, I declare my candidacy for office of the president of Nigeria.”
Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), on Wednesday, gave a detailed account on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) manhandled him on Monday.
He told reporters that he was at sea on why he should fall victim to the assault against his person and eventually arrested given that was not right person directly involved in the information the agency sought.
Some operatives of the EFCC who invaded the hospital, had whisked Ekpe away after firing teargas to scare away the workers, patients and visitors to the hospital, following what appeared like a fracas the ensued over what it claimed was a routine duty in the facility.
Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), described how an operative had first entered his office to make inquiries on why the hospital was yet to give a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.
He detailed how he briefed the operative that the said response was being prepared and even went ahead to show him the draft of a letter in that regard, which needed to go through the gamut of official endorsement before being released.
Hear him: “The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department.
“I had prepared prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026, based on the findings. When the EFCC operative visited my office the next morning to collect the document, I told him that the response was ready in draft. I even showed him the draft, but told him that the document still needed approval from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.
“He pretended to have accepted that. He left, but later later returned with another armed operative and informed me that I was under arrest. I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit.
“But he said I would get the answer when I get to their office. I then asked him to at least wait for my staff member who I sent on an errand before joining them. But they refused.
“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office. Then I began to cry while they were dragging me. They had warned me not to speak. They had taken my phone. My cry as they were dragging me, attracted the workers to the scene, who enquired what was going on, but because they ordered me not to speak, I couldn’t say anything. They had their guns.
The members of staff of the hospital initially blocked them from taking me away. They then made a call. After that I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around and people ran away.
“They picked some staff that were still by me. they dragged me and other staff, five of us into their van downstairs. By that time they discovered that the gate of the hospital were locked. So, they drove towards the gate and packed and the commotion continued. We were inside the van.
“I was so emotionally and psychologically traumatised that I couldn’t even look out of the vehicle to see what was happening outside. But I know that teargas and live bullets were shot. That’s all I can say for now.”
Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, heard on Wednesday, how Zenith Bank raised alarm over the huge transaction in one of its branches by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF-MoJ).
The bank said it immediately filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) in respect to the transactions, during its appearance in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife, and son over allegation of massive looting of funds belonging to the Federal Government during his tenure.
Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, who appeared as witness in the case, where Malami, et al, are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N8.7 billion, to which they pleaded not guilty, gave the testimony while being questioned on the bank’s roles in the matter.
Details of the testimony conveyed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated how the compliance officer who was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, lawyer to the defendants admitted that the deposits in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Arguments had stretched when Adedeji, opposed Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), lawyer to the EFCC, who had asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report, stressing that there was no ambiguity in the term.
However, Okutepa, in response, maintained that section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not preclude him from re-examining the witness while urging the court to allow the question for proper explanation.
After Abdulmalik, agreed and overruled Adedeji, the witness told the court that banks were required to alert the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) about fund deposits coming in a repetitive pattern, adding: “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”
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