By BONIFACE AKARAH

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria has called for the immediate establishment of a Federal Capital Territory Rent Tribunal, accusing the National Assembly of failing for 27 years to protect tenants from what it described as arbitrary rent hikes and exploitation by landlords in Abuja.

The rights group also urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Nyesom Wike, to convene an emergency stakeholders’ summit to address the worsening housing crisis in the nation’s capital.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, HURIWA described the current rental regime in Abuja as “one of the gravest forms of economic violence” against residents.

“It is disgraceful that after nearly twenty-seven years of uninterrupted democratic governance, successive National Assemblies have shamelessly failed to enact a comprehensive legal framework regulating landlord-tenant relationships in the Federal Capital Territory,” Onwubiko said.

“This legislative negligence has effectively abandoned millions of residents to the mercy of desperate profiteers masquerading as landlords, who arbitrarily determine rents without accountability, transparency or legal restraint.”

The group disclosed that it had itself become a victim of what it termed arbitrary rent increases after the landlord of its Abuja headquarters allegedly raised the annual rent for its one-room office from ?1 million to ?3 million without consultation.

“Without prior consultation, negotiation or mutual agreement, the landlord of the building housing the national headquarters of HURIWA arbitrarily increased the annual rent for our modest one-room office from ?1 million to ?3 million,” the statement said.

“We reject this unconscionable act of economic intimidation. This is not negotiation. This is exploitation. This is not commerce. It Is profiteering.”

According to HURIWA, many landlords in Abuja now increase rents by between 50 and 200 per cent without notice or corresponding improvements to their properties, forcing families and businesses out of the city.

“If a nationally recognised civil society organisation can be subjected to such brazen exploitation, one can only imagine the daily suffering of ordinary civil servants, pensioners, teachers, journalists, artisans, widows, market women, students and young families who lack the platform to speak out,” Onwubiko stated.

The association warned that the housing crisis had gone beyond an economic issue and was now fuelling homelessness, poverty, business closures and social instability.

“It has become a major human rights challenge. It is fueling homelessness, deepening poverty, widening inequality, destroying small businesses, encouraging urban crime and creating conditions capable of triggering serious social instability if urgent intervention is not undertaken,” it said.

HURIWA urged the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and lawmakers representing the FCT to establish an independent Landlords and Tenants Tribunal with powers to mediate disputes, regulate arbitrary rent increases, protect landlords and tenants, and ensure due process in eviction matters.

The group also proposed the creation of an independent Landlords and Tenants Ombudsman to investigate complaints, mediate disputes and reduce unnecessary litigation.

“The era where landlords behave like emperors and tenants are treated as conquered subjects must come to an end,” Onwubiko said.

He further called on Wike to bring together tenants’ associations, estate surveyors, consumer protection agencies, civil society groups and landlords to develop lasting solutions to Abuja’s housing challenges.

“Housing is not a luxury. It is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy. Access to decent shelter is inseparable from the constitutional guarantee of the dignity of the human person,” the statement added.

HURIWA vowed to continue advocating legal and policy reforms until Abuja adopts what it described as a fair and enforceable framework that balances the rights of landlords with those of tenants.