FHA Defends Oyetunde Ojo, Dismisses Developers’ Petition as Blackmail

By Our Reporter

The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has described as erroneous and misleading the allegations of land grabbing levelled against the management of the Authority under the leadership of Hon.

Oyetunde Oladimeji Ojo by a coalition of Estate Developers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which demanded a probe by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly.
In a statement released to journalists on Monday, the Head of Public Affairs, Kenneth Chigelu, under the title: “RE: DEVELOPERS PETITION TINUBU, NASS OVER FHA BOSS’ ALLEGED LAND GRABBING,” described the allegations of administrative high-handedness, land grabbing and extortion as spurious, quixotic and ridiculous, accusing some conventional and online media outlets of reckless and irresponsible journalism.
Chigelu specifically accused ThisDay, Leadership newspapers and online platform Daily Nigerian of promoting fake news allegedly orchestrated by faceless criminal elements and land grabbers exposed by the Authority’s recent digitisation process, without balancing the reports with the Authority’s position.
He stated that the activities of land grabbers and criminal elements were not new to the Authority, describing them as professional land grabbers who benefitted during the analogue era.
According to him, the digitisation exercise introduced by the Authority has come to stay, bringing an end to issues such as missing property files, double allocations and forgery, while ensuring secure documentation and improved service delivery since May 1, 2024.
The statement read in part:
“The attention of the management of Federal Housing Authority has been drawn to online publications in The Daily Nigerian, Leadership and ThisDay newspapers of 29th and 30th April, 2026 respectively, purportedly by a coalition of Estate Developers in the Federal Capital Territory, calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the leadership of the National Assembly to probe the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of FHA, Hon. Oyetunde Ojo, over alleged land grabbing, extortion and administrative high-handedness.”
“While management views these allegations as spurious, quixotic and most ridiculous, we are also miffed at the reckless and irresponsible journalism exhibited by both ThisDay, Leadership and Daily Nigerian in publishing contrived stories from faceless criminal land grabbers who have been caught in the web of our recent digitisation exercise, without hearing from us.”
The Authority explained that the grievances of the so-called coalition stemmed from what they described as deliberately slow approval processes for land development. However, FHA maintained that the individuals behind the allegations were unknown to the Authority and were allegedly benefitting from illegal dealings during the analogue era.
The Authority noted that the launch of FHA’s digitisation programme on May 1, 2024 ended analogue operations involving property files, thereby curbing file loss, double allocations and document forgery while increasing the speed of service delivery.
It added that the introduction of technology and the acquisition of a Max 350 drone enabled the Authority to accurately capture all its lands and identify illegally encroached properties, thereby frustrating all forms of sharp practices.
FHA further disclosed that it conducted a Verification, Regularisation and Ratification (VRR) exercise to allow genuine allottees with irregular documentation to rectify their records, while individuals who had illegally annexed Authority lands were given opportunities to regularise their documents after paying necessary charges.
According to the Authority, observations from the exercise revealed that several persons who could not provide proof of ownership resorted to blackmail and media attacks.
The statement insisted that approval processes had become easier, faster and more seamless through the Authority’s One Stop Shop initiative, where approvals are granted within two weeks once all criteria are met. Delays, it said, only occur where documentation is incomplete or faulty.
FHA challenged the individuals behind the allegations to publicly identify themselves and provide genuine proof of allocation and verification documents.
The Authority also stated that measures had been put in place to prevent the undervaluation of statutory fees, a development it claimed had angered some criminal elements who previously collaborated with compromised insiders to shortchange the agency.
Reaffirming its commitment to fulfilling its mandate of providing housing for Nigerians, FHA said it would not be distracted by what it described as the antics of disgruntled land grabbers.
The statement added that it was surprising that the faceless groups claiming to have cases against FHA in Abuja courts had abandoned the judicial process in favour of media blackmail.
“Our resolve to salvage FHA remains iron cast,” the statement said, adding that every property belonging to the Authority had now been identified using the MAX 350 drone technology, including illegally encroached lands.
FHA also reiterated that its nationwide Verification, Regularisation and Re-validation exercise was aimed at promoting transparency and giving property owners opportunities to regularise their documents.
“We are determined in our journey of repositioning FHA. All these frivolities, antics and blackmail would never make us lose focus,” the statement added.
The Authority therefore urged the public to disregard what it described as desperate professional land grabbers parading themselves as a coalition of estate developers without disclosing the identities of their companies.