A group of foreign-based Nigerian investors are seeking approval of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration to embark on the development of mass housing projects and a five star hotel in Abuja worth $1 billion (about N150 billion).

Managing Director/CEO of the Osike Synergy Consortium, Mr. Christian Udechukwu, tabled the request when members of the group visited the FCT Minister, Sen. Bala Mohammed in his office in Abuja.

He said the group was part of the business and trade delegation of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Rt. Hon. Alderman Michael Bear, who recently visited Abuja and Lagos to explore possible areas of investment.

Udechukwu pledged that with timely approval and support of government, both the mass housing and the hotel projects would be completed within 24 to 36 months.

In his remarks, Mohammed welcomed the interest of the consortium in investing in the FCT, saying only 15% of the territory has been developed. He therefore called for increased participation of both Nigerian and foreign private investors in the development of the various sectors of the territory.

He blamed the slow pace of development in FCT on over reliance on government, noting that the realisation that government cannot do it alone prompted the FCTA to open its doors for genuine indigenous and foreign investors.

According to the FCT minister, the high rate of population increase in the FCT has since outpaced the rate of development in the territory. He noted that whereas the current level of FCT’s development is supposed to accommodate a population of one million people, about five million residents are presently living in the territory thereby putting excessive pressure on available facilities and infrastructure.

He asked the consortium to clearly state the equity structure of their group to enable proper due diligence to be conducted by the FCTA, and to enable relevant government organs like the Abuja Infrastructure Investment Centre (AIIC), the Abuja Investments Company Ltd, the Engineering and Mass Housing Departments of the FCTA to appraise them especially with regards to capacity and feasibility.

The minister asserted that the era of allocating plots of land for mass housing development to briefcase businessmen who cannot show genuine capacity of financing and developing such projects is over.

“Henceforth, mass housing plots will only be allocated to those with capacity to develop to them.”

Mohammed also stated that the FCTA will henceforth demand business plans as well as equity shares of potential investors to forestall instances where large chunk of land in the nation’s capital will fall into the hands of unserious developers or speculators. “We have a responsibility of protecting our common wealth which is land by not allowing it to drift into the hands of few and unserious developers who do not have the interest of the nation at heart,” he declared.