Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has threatened to shut down 34 embassies in Abuja over unpaid ground rents.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration said the unpaid ground rents spans over 11 years.
A publication by the FCTA stated that many foreign missions had not paid their ground rents since 2014.
It said the 34 foreign missions are collectively owing N3,662,196.
This newspaper reports that on May 26, Mr Wike ordered officials to begin enforcement on 4,794 properties that were revoked due to non-payment of ground rent, spanning between 10 and 43 years.
President Bola Tinubu, however, intervened, by granting a 14-day grace period, which ends on Monday, June 9.
Defaulters, according the Director of Land, FCTA, Chijioke Nwankwoeze, would pay penalty fees of N2 million and N3 million respectively, depending on their locations.
The affected diplomas missions 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).
There are also the embassies of Ireland (N500), Uganda (N5,950), Iraq (N550), and the Zambia High Commission, which owes (N1,189,990).
Other embassies affected 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).
There are also 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.
Reacting, the Embassy of the Russian Federation firmly denied any outstanding debts.
“The Embassy pays all bills for the rent of the territory on which the Embassy complex is located in good faith and on time. The Embassy also has all necessary documents confirming payment,” it stated.
