Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has warned the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, against attempting to seal off 34 embassies and foreign missions allegedly owing ground rents in Abuja.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television on Monday, Falana stated, “Embassies and missions cannot be invaded simply because they haven’t paid ground rent — and not all of them are liable to pay it.”
The FCT Administration under Wike had earlier published the names of over 9,000 debtors in national newspapers, urging them to settle their ground rent arrears or risk forfeiting their land.
On 23 May 2025, the FCT Administration announced its plan to repossess around 5,000 properties with unpaid ground rent debts ranging from 10 to 43 years. It began sealing some properties, including the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), before President Bola Tinubu granted a 14-day grace period for debtors to pay.
That grace period expired on Friday, 6 June 2025 — a public holiday for Eid — leaving many Nigerians curious about Wike’s next move after the Sallah break on Tuesday, 10 June 2025.
Falana cited approximately 20 high court, appeal court, and Supreme Court rulings that held the FCT has no unilateral power to seal any property in the capital.
He explained that under Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, embassy premises are inviolable: “If we invade any embassy, Nigeria risks serious diplomatic fallout. It is prohibited under international law.”
He also stressed that such actions would violate Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, both of which guarantee the right to a fair hearing.
“No minister has the legal power to seal a property without giving the occupant an opportunity to be heard,” Falana insisted.
He urged Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar and Attorney General of the Federation Lateef Fagbemi to immediately step in and advise the FCT Minister.
“I expected the Foreign Affairs Minister to have acted by now. The Attorney General should also intervene,” he said.
Falana maintained that although property owners owing ground rent should pay their debts, the proper route is legal redress: “There is a tribunal in Abuja — the Urban and Regional Planning Tribunal — composed of professionals from the building sector. It has final authority on demolitions and attempts to seal properties. Anyone facing such threats should go to court. We are in a democracy.”