Wednesday, August 21, 2024 -Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has declared the Park and Pay scheme in the nation’s capital as illegal.
The minister made the declaration during a
parley with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
The interactive session was put together to
mark his one year in office.
He said, “A call from a Senior Advocate
brought to light a scheme that has been siphoning government funds under the
guise of a legal operation.
“The scheme, which appears to have been
operating under the radar, highlights a critical flaw in the system that allows
private consultants to pocket the lion share of revenues meant for the
government.
“These are things we need to fight within
the system. Sometimes, if you don’t bring it to our attention, we may not know.
We can’t be everywhere.
“The incident unfolded when a Senior
Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, reached out to me with a troubling report. He said,
‘Sir, some people came to our office and they are trying to seize our cars.
They claim to be from the Transport Secretariat’. I asked him to give the
person the phone, and I asked the person, ‘Who are you?’ He said, “He is from
‘Park and Pay from the Transport Secretariat.”
Wike said he immediately sought
clarification.
“I wasn’t aware of this, so I called the
person in charge of it. I asked, ‘Who collects the money?’ Unknown to us, there
are agreements between the Secretariat and some people who claim to be
consultants. So, the consultant takes 80%, and the FCT Administration takes
20%.”
He declared the scheme illegal, assuring
that immediate action would be taken to dismantle the operation.
“I’m trying to say that it’s illegal, and
nothing like that exists. And if my colleague hadn’t called me, I wouldn’t have
known,” he concluded.
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