FG rents houses sold for peanut for millions of naira, as governors rush to acquire the properties

The Federal Government now pays huge rents on the houses it sold for what a source described as peanuts during the monetisation programme it embarked upon in the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
This is as information reaching The Eagle Online showed that some governors have bought some of the houses in question for as high as N500 million and some are still in the rush to buy.

The funds for rent in this year’s budget for ministries, parastatals and agencies of the Federal Government runs into millions of naira for the houses that were sold to civil servants occupying them then or where they declined to others willing to buy.
This is more so for the houses located within the Presidential Villa, which are being used as offices by different Federal Government agencies and parastatals.
The Vice-President’s residence is attracting a rent of N16,641,777 this year, according to figures in the 2012 Budget.
The VP’s residence was bought during the monetisation programme by a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.
This was after the former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, turned down the first offer of purchase.
Federal Government agencies and parastatals that are also in the buildings sold during the monetisation exercise but that are now being paid for include the National Broadcasting Commission, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, the Bureau of Public Procurement, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the State House Gymnasium and office of some categories of Special Advisers to President Goodluck Jonathan.
For instance, the Ministry of Information, which oversees the affairs of the NBC, has a budget of N4,189,177,21 for office rent in this year’s budget.
Also, according to budget proposals, the ICRC is to pay N599,582 as rent for its office located in the Presidential Villa.
The Eagle Online learnt yesterday that the ICRC has started moving out of the building.
It was gathered that the BPP is to now occupy the building, apart from the one it is using at present.
For the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, a provision of N4,775,949 was made in the 2012 Budget for maintenance of office building and residential quarters while N201,870,357 is to be spent on office rent.
Though the breakdown was not provided for each of the offices on which the budgetted amounts would be spent, it was learnt that the bulk of it will go to payment for houses sold under the monetisation programme.
It will be recalled that a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon, Dimeji Bankole, who bought the then official residence of the Speaker in the National Assembly Quarters, Abuja, has let out the house to the Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal.
While Bankole bought the house for N40 million, a rent of N45 million is reported as being collected from the Federal Government yearly for the use of the house.
It was learnt that because of the security provided by the Presidential Villa for houses in the area, a lot of people are rushing to buy some of the monetised houses from their original owners.
One of those who own the privatised houses is a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Alhaji Abba Aji.
He bought the building being used by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The former Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, also has a house in the vicinity of the Presidential Villa, it was learnt.
So also does the Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, own a house there, The Eagle Online learnt.
It was also gathered that the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, is negotiating for the purchase of one of the houses in the precint of the Presidential Villa.
Sources told The Eagle Online that the houses now cost as much as N500 million.