The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike, has denounced the Park and Pay scheme in Abuja as unlawful.
News About Nigeria reports that Wike made this announcement during a live media engagement with select journalists in Abuja, marking his one-year anniversary in office.
The minister said, “A call from a senior advocate brought to light a scheme that has been syphoning government funds under the guise of a legal operation.”
The scheme exposed a critical flaw in the system that allowed private consultants to pocket most of the revenues meant for the government.
He said, “The scheme highlights a critical flaw in the system that allows private consultants to pocket the lion’s share of revenues meant for the government.”
Wike emphasised the need to address such issues within the system, acknowledging that without external input, they might remain unknown.
He added that ”these are things we need to fight within the system. Sometimes, if you don’t bring it to our attention, we may not know.”
The incident began when a Senior Advocate of Nigeria contacted Wike with a disturbing report.
He said, ‘Sir, some people came to our office and they are trying to seize our cars. They claim to be from the Transport Secretariat.’
Wike, unaware of such activities, sought clarification and discovered that the scheme involved agreements between the secretariat and private consultants, with the consultants taking 80% of the revenue.
Wike declared the scheme illegal and assured that immediate action would be taken to dismantle it.
“I’m trying to say that it’s illegal, and nothing like that exists. And if my colleague hadn’t called me, I wouldn’t have known, ” he said.
