Wike Must Be Cautioned Over Embassy Shutdown Plans – SERAP to Tinubu

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to act and stop what it describes as a “purported threat” from Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike that 34 foreign embassies in Abuja might close because of unpaid ground rents.
Such an action would be against diplomatic procedure and international law, SERAP warned in a statement published on its official 𝕏 Twitter on Monday, June 9.
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations’ Article 22, which guarantees diplomatic missions’ inviolability and prohibits their property from being searched, requisitioned, attached, or executed, was referenced by SERAP.

The threat to shut down 34 embassies in Abuja should be promptly retracted by Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister, as instructed by President Tinubu.

“[t]he premises of the mission shall be inviolable,” according to Vienna Convention Article 22, paragraph 1.

According to the group, “[t]he premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon, and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment, or execution,” as stated in Article 22, paragraph 3.

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According to reports, the Federal Capital Territory Administration recently revealed that at least 34 embassies in Abuja had unpaid ground rents that go back to 2014. This revelation is the source of the controversy.

Over ₦3.66 million is the total amount that these missions owe.

The following embassies have been designated as defaulters: Ghana, Thailand, Côte d’Ivoire, Russia, the Philippines, the Netherlands, Turkey, Guinea, Ireland, Uganda, Iraq, Zambia, Tanzania, Germany, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Venezuela, Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, Egypt, Chad, India, Sudan, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Indonesia, the European Union, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, China, South Africa, and Equatorial Guinea.

Others, such the Zambia High Commission (₦1,189,990), Indonesia’s Defense Attaché (₦1,718,211), and China’s Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office (₦12,000), have debts between ₦150 and ₦1 million.

In a decree published on May 26, FCT Minister Wike ordered enforcement operations against 4,794 properties with overdue rents ranging from 10 to 43 years.

This order also applied to embassies that had similarly fallen behind. Tinubu stepped in, though, in reaction to public uproar and the delicate nature of diplomatic ties, granting a 14-day grace period that ends today, Monday.

Depending on the location of their properties, embassies and other defaulters may be liable to penalty costs of ₦2 million or ₦3 million, according to Chijioke Nwankwoeze, Director of Land for the FCTA.

SERAP emphasized that while income collection is important, it must not go against international accords or diplomatic etiquette.