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Reps Panel Faults FCT ‘Park and Pay’ Arrangement

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By Ubong Ukpong, Abuja

The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has faulted the FCTA “park and pay” arrangement of the Federal Capital TerritoryRep. Mukthar Betara, Chairman of the House Committee on FCT, faulted Mr Chinedum Elechi, the Mandate Secretary in charge of the transportation secretariat, in Abuja on Wednesday during an interactive session.

He said that residents and motorists in the nation’s capital were being harassed by those employed to enforce the policy.
It would be recalled that FCTA reintroduced the park and pay policy into the nation’s capital in Aug 2023, after signing an agreement with two concessionaires.The policy was aimed at decongesting the city and making motoring a more pleasant experience.
The policy was however suspended in April 2014 after a high court judgement stopped the FCTA from collecting fees from residents for on-and-off the street parking within the metropolis.The court ruled that the policy was not backed by law.Betara demanded details on how the reintroduced park and pay arrangement was established, who authorised it, and how remittances are made to the coffers of the FCDA.Speaking, Elechi said the policy was regulated and supported by a legal framework and that only designated areas serve as parking zones.“The park and pay is by regulation. We have a legal framework. It is part of the way of controlling traffic.” So, under the part and pay, designated areas are meant to be parks. So, it is legal. It is a revenue paid through concessionaires.According to him, there is usually a ratio between the concessionaires and the FCT. So, for areas where we have the concessionaires, there is a percentage that goes to the concessionaires.” It is 60 percent, and 40 percent goes to FCT. The infrastructure for the work is usually provided by the concessionaire. The revenue goes straight to the revenue account of the FCT, not transportation.”The committee chairman queried the mandate secretary about the contract process, asking how the contract was established.”In appointing your concessionaires, what procedure did you follow? How much has been remitted to the FCDA from January to date who gave you the approval,” Betara asked.Mr Hussaina Olayemi, the Director of Legal Services, Transport explained that the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and the Abuja Investment Company (AIC), the FCT organisation responsible for public-private partnerships, were involved.“After their involvement, the concession was submitted to the federal executive council (FEC) for approval. So, we have the FEC approval,” Olayemi stated.The committee criticized the allocation of 60 percent of revenue to concessionaires while the government receives only 40 percent.Betara demanded clarification on what infrastructure the concessionaires are providing.Replying, Elechi stated that the concessionaire is responsible for marking roads.However, Betara countered, asserting that no roads in Abuja have been marked by the concessionaire.“The way the concessionaires operate in Abuja, they harass people on the streets. I would have advised you people to have given the VIO this concessionaire.” Let them take this up, so that the whole revenue will go to FCT. Why are you personalising this for an individual,” Betara said.The committee ruled that, on the next appearance, Elechi should bring the agreement with the concessionaires and details of the remittances received from January to date.

POLITICS

INEC Staff Welfare Association Warns Members Against Manipulating Election Results

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The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.

The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.

Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.

He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.

“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.

“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.

“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”

He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.

Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.

He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.

He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.

According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.

Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)

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Be Thankful APC Didn’t Probe Your Administrations, Okechukwu Tells PDP

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A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.

Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.
This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)

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LG Administration Central to Democracy in Nigeria -Nwoko

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Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).

He was represented by his Chief of Staff.
He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.
“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)

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