From Andy Ekugo in Abuja, 09.27.2005

The government yesterday reiterated its resolve to evacuate occupants of its sold high rise buildings in Lagos and warned that those who were still recalcitrant would have their selves to blame.
Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko told newsmen in his office yesterday that the deadline for total evacuation was till September 30 and insisted that occupants had been informed and that it would be foolhardy for anyone to take the decision lightly.
Mimiko said despite attempts to help the residents have a seamless relocation, some had put in place resistance to vacate the premises and insisted on being given the right of first refusal.
These offers which had been communicated to the occupants at various meetings as well as their representatives, included locating other houses in Lagos and Abuja in order to relocate.
These included the Abesan 1, built by FHA; Odo-Nla Estate Ikorodu and Isheri North Estate built by LSDPC. Those in Abuja were Efab City Estate, Mbora as well as Shelter Concepts all built by public private partnership (PPP).
In addition to this, Mimiko said he had arranged with “Union Homes Savings and Loans Limited, accelerated packages for 100 percent mortgages for the legal residents of these high rise properties at the statutory rate of interest under the National Housing Fund Scheme” and also instructed the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria to guarantee the loans created in the course of the exercise.
The two mortgage banks he assured had worked to cushion the effect of the relocation of the 677 out of 747 occupants who were legal tenants of the houses.
The loans accruable for this exercise Mimiko said, was N5 million but in any case where any of the occupants was not satisfied with the houses identified for them, such occupants were free to make a choice themselves w hile he instructedt he Union Homes to accommodate them by offering loans more than N5 million.
In addition, residents who do not wish to buy a house are to receive a grant of N250,000 from the buyers.
He decried that despite a meeting of September 8, with the executive committee of the various high rises and another meeting with residents on September 17, some people were still reluctant to move and wished that the federal government would have a rethought that they hoped to gain through blackmail.
He said that there was no going back from the sales, as the companies that bought the buildings had already paid for their properties. These were the 1004 Housing Estate sold to UAC Properties Limited for N7 billion, Mulinner Road Towers sold to Union Homes Savings and Loans Ltd for N600 million, Awolowo Road Towers Ikoyi sold to Union Homes also at a cost of N520 million, Alagbon Towers Ikoyi sold to Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund for N1.2billion and Eric Moore Towers sold to Dock Management Ltd for N570
million. However, Blocks D and E Reeve Road Towers Ikoyi, Legico Towers Victoria Island and Bar Beach Towers have been reserved for military use.