The administration of the Federal Capital Territory has on Tuesday sealed off the premises of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in Abuja over a debt of N10 billion.
Driving the news
The FCTA is carrying out this action on behalf of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), as a disciplinary measure to defaulters with huge amounts of unpaid charges despite several warning calls by the board for the defaulting ministries to service their debts.
- Ministries affected are the Federal Ministry of Works, Federal Character Commission, Merit house Maitama and Murg plaza.
Debts
A comprehensive list of the debts owed includes the Federal Ministry of Education owing N25,838,275; the Federal Ministry of Defence, N17,220,775.00 and the Federal Character Commission, N10,128,906.25.
- Others include the Civil Service Commission, N2,451,649.50; Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission, N21,683,750.00; the Federal Ministry of Health, N14,204,843.75; the Federal Ministry of Trade & Investment, N19,222,287.50; the Federal Ministry of Works, N9,998,625.00 and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Wuse, N16,583,031.25.
What they are saying
The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring Inspection and Enforcement to the minister of FCT, Ikahro Attah, said that this operation is a strategic plan by the Minister of FCT and the permanent secretary to recover the debt owed by the various ministries.
- The Director of the Abuja Environment Protection Board (AEPB), Engineer Osilama Braimah, who closely monitored the exercise added that the board sealed the premises on the court order it had obtained.
Why it matters
This debt recovery exercise by the AEPB, if successful, would provide the FCTA with enough funds to run and further develop Nigeria’s capital city without government assistance.