The Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, has said the planned reintroduction of suspended ‘park and pay’ policy by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, will not be accepted.
AMAC described the move as unjustifiable and aimed at denying the council its legitimate revenue to provide social amenities to the people.
The council, in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Community Development to the Chairman of AMAC, Yunusa Ahmadu, said the law didn’t permit another body to collect or manage motorists’ activities especially on street and motor parks.
Yusuf said, “the situation was disturbing when the FCT Transportation Secretariat made the announcement, recently, saying it is worrisome for the secretariat to be cooking up a kangaroo way to begin ‘park and pay’ which ideally the law does not permit them; they don’t have the power to do that.”
AMAC therefore asked the Federal Capital Territory Administration to hands off the policy planned to take off by the end of first quarter of 2023.
The statement explained that the plan, if allowed to come back, will affect revenue generation in the council.
“We want to warn clearly that we know the Minister as a law-abiding citizen and nobody should cajole him to do the wrong thing”.
Yusuf faulted the former AMAC Chairman, Hon. Abdullahi Adamu Candido who is now the Mandate Secretary on Transportation to the FCT Minister for the reintroduction of the ‘park and pay policy’ having worked against the programme during time as the chairman.
“We want to tell Candido that we have records of how he never allowed the park and pay to see the light of the day when it was initially introduced by the FCTA.
“We want to say clearly as AMAC, that we reject whatever action that will be introducing park and pay from the FCT Administration, it is not their duty, it is the duty of the local government.
“We have it in our laws, in our by laws, in our acts, whatsoever you want to define it, and it has been both in the court of law, and it is clear that it is our responsibility, so we are shocked that Candido is so inquisitive, because we know clearly that he was once the chairman of AMAC.
“While he was the chairman of AMAC he never allowed the park and pay to operated from the FCT Administration, why is he now so keen? Because he is the Mandate Secretary Transport? We look at it as deliberate act to sabotage the revenue of AMAC, and that we feel is very unfair and unacceptable,” the statement said.
