The Blueprint Publisher and Kakaaki Nupe, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, who was recently sent forth as Chairman, the Board of Directors of the Abuja Property Development Company (APDC), speaks to TOPE SUNDAY in this interview on his achievements at the company.
In the beginning
In the beginning, it was very challenging. We were appointed in December 2017. We took office in March 2018. And we got to work immediately. It’s been very, very challenging. Almost everything was not the way it should be. We were lucky that we had a very good management team. I also have my colleagues on the board who are also very passionate about bringing about these changes for the APDC. And with their cooperation, we were able to make things better for the APDC, and today, the story is quite different. APDC has taken its rightful place now, as a destination point, like I always say, for those who want to engage in real estate development in Nigeria, especially within the FCT.
The introduction of corporate governance
Well, it’s a private company owned by the government. We are operating like every private organisation. Of course, every organisation has its owners. Our owner is the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Capital Territory. We started and brought about corporate governance, which has led us to where we are today. The institutions within the company have been strengthened. APDC is now one of the best-run property development companies you can find in this country.
Our executed projects
They are wonderful projects. If you look at the Kabba project, which is our flagship project, we called it the ‘Abuja capital project’ where you have a development for especially the medium income earners. The project is in three-bedroom, two-bedroom, and one-bedroom apartments. We started with phase one, now they’ve gone into the third phase. It is a 50-hectare development area we have, and about half of it has been taken already. People are trooping there. We have markets emerging there, and you have schools emerging. It’s a very nice location for everybody to buy into. I think the Kabba project is a flagship project like I said at the beginning, and it is a destination for everyone to be.
My future expectations
APDC is growing and is waxing stronger. I see APDC in the next five years if we continue at the pace that the company is going now, it will become one of the biggest property development companies in this country. And it’s well run as I say with strict corporate governance.
APDC’s foray into Kaduna real business
I think it’s about development. It is not just in Kaduna, we want to move to other locations as well. There is an opportunity in the new Kaduna Millennium City that Governor El Rufai has put in place, and we thought that we should go there and take our share of the market. It is a place that is fast developing and APDC is not just stopping at Kaduna everywhere we see the market, we will go there. That’s the vision of APDC.
My parting words
The message is that those things that have made APDC stand and wax strong should remain. We’re trying to build a company that is very, very strong. Strict corporate governance and corporate governance must be put in place and must be adhered to. We have to run that organisation in such a way and manner that every other person that will come afterward will have no option but to follow suit.
