The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has ruled the on-street parking program, also known as the ‘Park-and-Pay’ plan, illegal, claiming fraud in the contract agreement between the management contractors and the FCT.
WIke made the statement on Wednesday during a media briefing to commemorate his first year in service as FCT Minister.
According to reports, the scheme, which was first introduced in 2014, will be reintroduced in 2023 after the FCT administration signed a massive N908.3 billion agreement with concessionaires NAJEC Limited and Messrs Automaten Technik Bauman Nigeria Limited, each of which will generate an estimated N26.93 billion in revenue over a 10-year period.
The then-Permanent Secretary of the FCT, Olusade Adesola, who signed the agreement on behalf of the FCT in August 2023, noted that the scheme was reintroduced with the permission of the six local councils and that it sought to establish order and organisation in the city.
However, Wike stated that he was uninformed of the reintroduction program, noting that the deal called for an 80% repayment to the contractors, with just 20% to be paid to the administration.
He said that he has now requested that a statement be produced to alert residents that the program was illegal, stressing that people should not be forced to pay for parking in front of their shops or residence.
“A colleague of mine, a senior advocate, called me and said, ‘Sir, people came to the office now, trying to hijack all our cars.’ He said they were from the Transport Secretariat. I said, ‘Give the person the phone.’ I asked, ‘Who are you? What are you doing?’ He said, ‘Park and pay.’ I replied, ‘What do you mean by Park and Pay? I park a car in my house, and I pay?’
“I called the Transport Secretariat and the Mandate Secretary. I asked who introduced this Park and Pay scheme and what it meant. Who collects the money? It turned out there were agreements between the Transportation Secretariat and some individuals who claimed to be consultants. Then I asked, ‘Consultants take 80 percent, and the government takes 20 percent?’
“Where is this 20 percent being paid to the government? I instructed that a statement be drafted. I called the Director of Press and said, ‘Send out a statement informing the public that there is no such thing as Park and Pay. It is illegal. That’s what I’m trying to convey,’” he said.
WIike disclosed that contracts such as the Park and Pay scheme were arranged in collusion with secretariats within the administration, stating that he was striving to reduce corruption in the system to the bare minimum.
“The point I’m making is that, no matter how you shuffle things, you still have civil servants working with you. It is not easy, but you try as much as possible to reduce it to the bare minimum. But we must continue to fight hard,” Wike added.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
