Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has declared the Park and Pay scheme in the nation’s capital as illegal.
Wike said this during a media parley on Wednesday in Abuja to commemorate his first anniversary in office.
He was inaugurated as minister on 21 August 2023 by President Bola Tinubu.
“A call from a Senior Advocate revealed a scheme that has been embezzling government funds under the pretense of a legal operation,” the speaker stated.
The plan, which seems to have been going unnoticed, exposes a serious weakness in the system that permits private consultants to keep the majority of money intended for the government.
These are issues that we must combat within the system. We might not be aware of something if you don’t alert us about it. We are unable to be everywhere.
“The story started when a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, contacted me with an alarming report. “Sir, there are individuals who came to our office attempting to take our cars,” he stated. The Transport Secretariat is where they claim to be from. After asking him to hand the person the phone, I questioned the individual, “Who are you?” He said, “He works for the Transport Secretariat’s Park and Pay.”
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.
