The Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, will this week, likely come after 34 embassies in Abuja over unpaid ground rents spanning 11 years.
NATIONAL POST recalls that the FCTA last week caused an uproar when it sealed the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, among others, all in the FCT, Abuja.
However, President Bola Tinubu interved then and a two-week window was granted to the defaulters.
The PDP at the time condemned the action, accusing the government of suppressing the opposition.
It has now been revealed that the PDP, the FIRS and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, paid the defaulting fee last week.
However, the FCTA will now turn to many foreign missions who have not paid their ground rents since 2014.
The total debt was put at N3,662,196.
The embassies include the Ghana High Commission Defence Section (N5,950); Embassy of Thailand (N5,350), Embassy of Côte d’Ivoire (N5,500); Embassy of the Russian Federation (N1,100); Embassy of the Philippines (N5,950); Royal Netherlands Embassy (N5,950); Embassy of Turkey (N3,350), and the Embassy of the Republic of Guinea (N5,950).
Also included are the embassies of Ireland (N500), Uganda (N5,950), Iraq (N550), and the Zambia High Commission, which owes (N1,189,990).
Other missions on the list include the Tanzania High Commission (N6,000), German Embassy (N1,000), Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (N5,950), Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (N459,055), Embassy of the Republic of Korea (N5,950), and the High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago (N500).
The Embassy of Egypt (N5,950), Embassy of Chad (N5,950), Sierra Leone Commission (N5,900), High Commission of India (N150), Embassy of Sudan (N5,950), Embassy of Niger Republic (N500), and Kenya High Commission (N5,950) are also listed among the defaulters.
Others are the embassies of Zimbabwe (N500), Ethiopia (N5,950), and Indonesia (Defence Attaché), which has an outstanding balance of (N1,718,211).
The Delegation of the European Union (N1,500), Embassy of Switzerland (N5,950), Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia (N5,950), China’s Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office (N12,000), South African High Commission (N4,950), and the Government of Equatorial Guinea (N1,137,240) also featured on the list.
However, a former Nigerian ambassador to Mexico, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, who spoke to PUNCH, referenced the 1961 Vienna Convention and urged caution.
He said the premises of a diplomatic mission are inviolable.
As of the time of this report, most of the listed embassies have declared that they were not owing the government any debt.