FCT High Court Issues Interim Order Restraining Wike, FCTA from Enforcing Maitama Land Revocation

By Emmanuel Kwada

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The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court has granted an interim injunction restraining the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), and the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) from enforcing a revocation notice on a disputed property in the upscale Maitama district.

In an ex parte ruling delivered on December 22, 2025, Justice Bello Kawu barred the defendants from acting on, enforcing, or implementing the purported revocation of Park No. 2008, Cadastral Zone A06, Maitama, measuring approximately 1.96 hectares. The order remains in effect pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice in the substantive suit.

The decision followed an ex parte motion filed by Nanet Hotels Limited, the claimant in suit marked FCT/HC/CV/5274/2025 (and related motion FCT/HC/M/17103/2025), challenging the validity of the revocation notice contained in a letter dated July 7, 2025, and received on September 24, 2025.

Justice Kawu held that the defendants must be restrained “from giving effect to, acting upon, enforcing, implementing or taking any step whatsoever pursuant to the purported revocation… pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”

The court further prohibited any actions to eject, harass, intimidate, seal, demolish, relocate, or otherwise interfere with Nanet Hotels Limited’s possession and occupation of the property.

The ruling comes amid ongoing enforcement drives by the FCTA under Minister Wike, who has overseen multiple waves of land revocations in prime districts—including Maitama, Asokoro, Garki, and Wuse—primarily over non-payment of ground rents, Certificate of Occupancy bills, violation fees, and land use conversion charges.

In late 2025, revocations affected over 1,000 properties, with some high-profile names listed in default notices.

Nanet Hotels Limited, through its solicitors (including Senior Advocate Chikaosolu Ojukwu and others), has since issued public notices emphasizing the subsisting court order and warning potential buyers or interested parties (caveat emptor) against transactions involving the property while the suit is pending.

This interim relief highlights growing legal challenges to aspects of the FCTA’s land recovery and enforcement policies, as affected title holders increasingly turn to the courts for protection of their rights of occupancy. The substantive matter remains ongoing, with no final determination on the merits of the revocation.

The development underscores tensions between government efforts to recover underutilized or defaulting lands in the FCT and private property rights under the Land Use Act and constitutional protections. Further hearings in the case are expected as proceedings continue before the FCT High Court.