The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has described the popular “park and pay” scheme in Abuja as illegal and ordered its immediate cancellation. Wike disclosed this in a chat with newsmen as part of activities marking the first anniversary of his stay in office.
The minister, who also frowned at the sharing formula, which is skewed against the administration, explained that while the consultant takes 80 per cent of the proceeds, the FCT Administration takes the remaining 20 per cent.
He said; “I was away, a colleague of mine, a friend of mine called me, he is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN.
“He said ‘Sir, people came to our office now trying to hijack all our cars and they said they were from the Transport Secretariat’.
“I said, what is that? I said give the person the phone. I said who are you and he said from ‘Park and Pay’. I said what do you mean by Park and Pay? I park in my house and I pay?
“I called the Mandate Secretary of Transport Secretariat. I said, ‘Come, who introduced the Park and Pay. What does it mean? Who collects the money?’.
“Unknown to us, there was an agreement between the Secretariat and some people who say they are consultants. Consultants?
“I said okay, the consultant takes 80 per cent and the government takes 20 per cent? I said okay, where is this money paid into? I said, draft a statement and call the Director, Press, send out the statement that the public should be aware that there is nothing called ‘Park and Pay’.
“So, sometimes these things are done in connivance with the various secretariats. I was a governor. So, I know that these things happen and we won’t deny that fact,” he stated.
The minister urged residents to continue to let the government know of happenings in their areas, saying if his attention had not been drawn to the illegal policy, he may not have known of its existence.
The scheme, which was first introduced about a decade ago, was suspended following public outcry. It was however reintroduced in August last year, just a few days before Wike assumed office as minister.
