Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has declared the Park and Pay scheme in the nation’s capital as illegal.
The development, which is a significant move against corruption within the FCT was announced during a live media chat on Wednesday in Abuja to mark Wike’s first anniversary in office.
The FCT minister, giving his reason for taking the decision, noted that the scheme has been siphoning government funds under the guise of a legal operation.
He stressed that the sharing formula of earnings from the scheme is not beneficial to the government, revealing that the FCT administration takes 20 percent while private consultants take 80 percent.
Narrating how he reached the decision, Wike said, “I was away, and 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, consultant takes 80 percent and the government takes 20 percent? 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.”
The minister urged residents to continue to let 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.
