Land Row: FCTA dismisses AEDC’s invasion claims, threatens legal action

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: The Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA has dismissed claims by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company AEDC that its C2 Maitama Substation was invaded and encroached upon, describing the allegations as defamatory and malicious, and has threatened legal action against the power firm.

The FCTA Department of Development Control, in a statement by its Acting Director, Bashir Madaki Sunusi, said the AEDC’s public announcement of July 10, 2026, falsely accused an Assistant Director of the Department, Mr Chinedu Okoro, of leading land grabbers to invade the substation.

According to the statement, the Department’s actions on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, were purely statutory, transparent and professional, following a formal complaint from a lawful allottee holding a valid Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) duly signed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT.

The Department said the landowner had reported a lack of access to his property due to illegal obstructions by AEDC officials.

The statement explained that a team comprising Maitama District Officers and surveyors visited the site to ascertain the boundaries but discovered no permanent structure or fence, only a barbed wire fence allegedly used to barricade the area illegally.

Surveyors were subsequently deployed to establish precise boundary beacons using standard equipment to determine whether any actual encroachment or trespass had occurred on the AEDC substation.

The Department further disclosed that during the exercise, the AEDC’s Chief Operating Officer, Engr. Blessing Ogwe, and an Assistant Director, Mrs Christine Emma-Kalu, arrived at the scene alongside a team of policemen.

It said the AEDC leadership had invited its team to a resolution meeting at their office, where the Department’s officials honourably waited from 2pm until 5pm, but AEDC management failed to show up.

On the disruption to power supply, the Department stated authoritatively that its staff did not touch, alter or damage any electricity cables, structure or network infrastructure, adding that electricity supply was fully functional when its team departed the area. It alleged that the AEDC fabricated the subsequent power disruption to ignite crises and curry sympathy from the public.

The Department condemned the AEDC’s public announcement as a cheap, calculated attempt to tarnish the reputation of its staff, and declared that the Department would not be deterred from executing its statutory responsibility of enforcing orderly development and protecting citizens’ access to land in the FCT.

It advised that any legitimate land dispute claims by AEDC should be presented to the Minister of the FCT, who holds the sole statutory authority over land allocations in the territory, rather than resorting to what it called cyber-bullying and corporate thuggery.

The Department demanded that AEDC management immediately withdraw the publication from all online platforms and issue an unreserved public apology to the Department and the affected staff across major national daily newspapers.

“Failure to do so will leave the Department and the affected staff with no option but to seek full legal redress for defamation of character,” the statement said.

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