Bello commissions APDC headquarters, vows continuous demolition

…We’ve adopted good corporate governance – APDC board chair Malagi

  The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, on Friday commissioned the headquarters of the Abuja Property Development Company (APDC) and vowed to continue with the demolition of all illegal buildings within the city.

The APDC’s new office, which was commissioned 15 years after the existence of the company, is located in Abuja.

Bello expressed delight over the APDC’s new office and its management, board and staff.

On the illegal buildings in the FCT, the minister said despite the efforts to develop the city, some investors were adamant and hell bent on building with impunity.

He said: “But afterwards, in spite of all the efforts we have done in the city, there are certain investors, unscrupulous persons, who decide, especially to fringe on the city to build without permission; to build on an unoccupied land, to build with impunity, and to spend enormous amount of resources.

“I must admit that in the last two weeks, we have been demolishing, yes we are demolishing and we will continue to demolish. I want to use this opportunity to tell genuine investors that nobody’s property will be touched. If it is genuinely allocated land, nobody’s property will be touched.

“But whoever builds, no matter how highly placed, and no matter how expensive that building is, it will go down. And where for any reason, an investor arranges to beat our staff; we’re going to charge them with criminal procedures. This is something I need to say. We want to develop the city but the city has to be developed in an organised manner just like it was done in all parts of the world.

Also speaking, the chairman, Board of Directors of the company, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, expressed appreciation over the APDC’s office and commended the minister for his support.

 Malagi, who is also the publisher of Blueprint Newspapers, commended the management and staff of ADPC for their dedication to work, disclosing that the company was being properly managed.

He said: “The board has been selfless in discharging its responsibilities by providing professional advice, situational support for the company to strive. As a board, we have always adopted good corporate governance and there is no ambiguity that APDC has been properly managed, particularly by ensuring the effective performance of the staff.

“At this juncture, I want to say that the kind of support that the board and management of APDC has gotten from the minister is unprecedented. It is worthy to note that the APDC is blessed with a crop of dedicated staff who continue to work tirelessly.”

Earlier, the Managing Director of the company, Malam Lawal Magaji, who also commended the minister for his supportive role, said the new office would also be beneficial to other FCT agencies.

“And we should note that the successful completion of this project has proven to be beneficial not only to APDC but other FCT agencies that have been provided office spaces or lease and it has demonstrated our capacity to take such projects,” he said.