The Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA), the administrator of<\/p>\n
Abuja, the nation’s capital and seat of power, is passing through a
\ndifficult period. The Mohammed Bello-led Administration is not finding
\nthe running of the territory an easy task.<\/p>\n
The administration, like the larger ruling All Progressives Congress
\n(APC)-led Federal Government is grappling with mounting challenges and
\nfallouts of what it usually attributes to the large scale corruption and
\nmassive looting of the treasury by the former President Jonathan-led
\ngovernment, leading to ongoing trials of the former top officials.<\/p>\n
The onslaught of militants on oil and gas installations in the oil rich
\nNiger Delta region has not helped matters at the federal and state levels
\nthus altering significantly the prospects of a full implementation of the
\n2016 federal budget.<\/p>\n
The FCT administration is also grappling with dwindling federal allocation
\nand the danger of not meeting financial obligations.<\/p>\n
The situation, has, consequently impacted infrastructure delivery,
\nenvironmental sanitation and other contractual obligations negatively.<\/p>\n
The situation led to posers by Abuja residents as to whether a government
\nis in place and why activities were moving at a snail pace while
\ncomplaints rang on the inside of heaps of files unattended.<\/p>\n
Taking the Bull By the Horn?<\/p>\n
Realising the futility of governance without funding or a strong revenue
\nbase, and the need to cover lost ground, the FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello
\nand the Permanent Secretary, Dr Babatokpe Ajakaiye, have been firing on
\nall cylinders.<\/p>\n
In order to rescue the city from a growing menace of filth, the
\nadministration embarked on a strategic cleansing exercise with the sacking
\nof the management of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). The
\nminister sacked the Director of the board, Baba Lawan and<\/p>\n
replaced him with Mrs Oluwatoyin Olanipekun. He also ordered the removal
\nof all heads of department and unit heads replacing them with their
\ndeputies. A 200-strong task force comprising policemen and operatives of
\nthe Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps headed by Ibrahim Adamu
\nMoniel, a retired Airforce Squadron Leader, is in place to enforce debt
\nrecovery and ensure compliance with environmental laws.<\/p>\n
With a huge debt overhang and other liabilities in the neighbourhood of
\nN400 billion, the administration inaugurated a committee to recover funds
\nowed it by government agencies and other clients amounting to N9.8
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
With a 28,000 strong workforce, N4.1 billion as monthly wage bill and only
\nN2 billion accruing from the federation account, the choice is clear: debt
\nrecovery and aggressive revenue generation drive to improve Internally
\nGenerated Revenue (IGR).<\/p>\n
Speaking recently while receiving the Chairman of the FCT Ministerial Task
\nForce on the recovery of N9 billion owed the Abuja Environmental
\nProtection Board (AEPB) in her office, Head of Service of the Federation,
\nMrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, said Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)
\nhave no business owing the AEPB as such expenses ought to have been fully
\ncatered for in their annual overhead budgetary expenditures.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to convey a very strong message to all the MDAs under the office
\nof Head of Service, that is the Ministries and various Parastatals that
\nif efforts are not made to clear these debts by the next overhead
\nallocation, we will have no option than to ask the budget office to make
\ndeductions at first charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the arrangement we even have here with the PHCN or Abuja
\nElectricity Distribution Company. We\u2019ve given the budget office approval
\nto deduct our bills and they are still doing it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The effort is already yielding fruits as some of the agencies have
\nstarted complying with the directive even as it took drastic measures for
\nsome of them to pay. For instance, it took a recent sealing off of the
\nNational Hospital, Abuja before it effected payment of debt owed AEPB
\namounting to N7 million.<\/p>\n
Bail Out for Area Councils<\/p>\n
In order to strengthen the capacity of the area councils to operate
\neffectively, the Bello administration released a bail out package of N1.6
\nbillion for the six area councils in Abuja to enable them pay salaries and
\nallowances. But like the bail out at the federal level with attendant
\ncases of diversion of such funds and the attitude to hope for more bailout
\nfunds, the administration warned that there would be no further bail out
\nfor area councils and urged the councils to be proactive and use the
\nchannels available to them to generate revenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cPermit me to tell you that serious challenges await you at the area
\ncouncils. The bitter truth is that all the six area councils cannot pay
\nstaff salaries and other obligations.<\/p>\n
“Even though the FCT Administration has gone extra mile to assist the
\narea councils, you are better off taking proactive measure to your
\nvarious councils.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou must turn around the potentials of your area councils into wealth, by
\nboosting revenue and blocking leakages, so that your councils can be
\nfinancially independent and you will be able to deliver the expected
\ndividends of democracy,\u201d he told area council chairmen at a recent
\nmeeting.<\/p>\n
Prudent Management of Resources?<\/p>\n
Faced with the stark reality of a financial meltdown, the administration
\nresorted to frugality in management of the lean resources available, a
\nsituation that is generating loud complaints from staff and clients. This
\nline of arguments by even successive administrations has elicited doubts
\nfrom the populace as Nigerians have severally witnessed the reverse side
\nof the arguments.<\/p>\n
But speaking recently on how the administration has weathered the storm at
\na time state governments are unable to pay salaries, the Permanent
\nSecretary, Dr Babatokpe Ajakaiye, said prudent management of resources and
\nblockage of leakages have led to the payment of N30 billion to contractors
\nfor the execution of various projects.<\/p>\n
He said aggressive revenue drive with a view to improving the IGR, the
\nadministration was able to offset the N2 billion Abuja Railway
\nInfrastructure counterpart funding with the Chinese government, another
\nN1.7 billion counterpart funding with the Japanese government in different
\ndevelopment areas including water management. The administration has spent
\na total of N5.7 billion on counterpart funding obligations since assuming
\noffice a year ago.<\/p>\n
In view of paucity of funds, the permanent secretary directed all
\ndefaulters in the payment of water and other bills accruable to FCTA to be
\ndisconnected. He tasked all revenue generating agencies in the Federal
\nCapital Territory to shore up their revenue profile for the sustainability
\nof workers\u2019 salaries and continued execution of infrastructural
\ndevelopment in the territory.<\/p>\n
At a recent meeting with officials of the Abuja Urban Mass Transit
\ncompany, Ajakaiye called on them to block all financial leakages in the
\norganisation to enable them shore up their revenue profile, stressing that
\nthe administration was not in a position to give the company any bail-out
\npackage.<\/p>\n
Ajakaiye tasked them to fashion out creative and ingenious ways of
\nimproving the company, rather than take undue advantage of the firm to
\nenrich themselves.<\/p>\n
In previous administrations, there were cases of loud pronouncements of
\nthe determination to fight corruption and sloganeering in terms of prudent
\nmanagement of resources which ended in looting the treasury blind as was
\nthe case with the previous administration which is the reason for the
\nfrugality associated with the Mohammed Bello administration. How far these
\nausterity measures would go remain to be seen.<\/p>\n
2016 Budget<\/p>\n
Abuja is still in its second phase, in a three-phased development plan
\nsince its creation in 1976. In its renewed bid to restore sanity, deliver
\non infrastructure and continue with the tempo of development, the FCT
\ngovernment, is, therefore, budgeting N241 billion for the 2016 fiscal
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Although it remains to be seen the possibility of fully implementing a
\nbudget still being debated at the National Assembly in June, the Mallam
\nMohammed Musa Bello administration proposed to spend N241,467,231,031 in
\nthe 2016 fiscal year for capital and recurrent expenditure.<\/p>\n
The minister said out of the N241,467,231,031 proposed, a total sum of
\nN149,056,610,051 which represents 61.73 percent, would go to capital
\nexpenditure while personnel cost is allocated N52,371,352,360 which also
\nrepresents 21.69 percent of the total expenditure.<\/p>\n
According to him, the overhead is the least with N40,039,268,620 out of
\nthe N241,467,231,031 which is 16.58 percent.<\/p>\n
With a focus on infrastructural development of the entire Federal Capital
\nTerritory, the minister disclosed that N2,400,000,000 has been set aside
\nfor debt servicing. He assured that attention would mostly be given to
\non-going projects in order to expedite development.<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen how far the budget would go with implementation
\nexpected at half year.<\/p>\n
556 Illegal Schools Shut<\/p>\n
To clear the huge mess that education has become in Abuja especially with
\nregard to private schools, the administration recently met with
\nproprietors of private schools under the auspices of the National
\nAssociation of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) to appraise the
\nstate of affairs in the sector.<\/p>\n
At the meeting chaired by the Director, Quality Assurance of the Education
\nSecretariat, Mr Ayuba Didam, said 556 illegal schools existed in the
\nterritory following investigations by the secretariat.<\/p>\n
He said FCTA authorities had approved the closure of illegal schools in
\nthe territory. He said the schools were not registered with the Education
\nSecretariat as required by law. He noted that the quality of teaching and
\ninfrastructure alone did not qualify any school to operate in Abuja but
\nregistration with the quality assurance department and warned against
\nre-opening such schools without meeting stipulated conditions.<\/p>\n
There are also concerns about the state of public schools in the territory
\nreeling with dilapidated infrastructure and poor sanitary conditions and
\nsome cases in the suburbs where schools are non-existent.<\/p>\n
FCT Online Presence<\/p>\n
For a long time the Federal Capital Territory had operated without a
\nstrong online presence as the seat of power, failing in the process to
\nutilise and optimise the gains of cyberspace and the internet revolution.
\nThe Mohammed Bello administration recently inaugurated a committee to
\noversee the redesigning of the FCTA official website with a view to
\nincreasing the tempo of information flow between the management and staff
\nand the FCTA and its external publics.<\/p>\n
Inaugurating the committee, the Permanent Secretary, Babatope Ajakaiye,
\nurged the committee to come up with recommendations that would strengthen
\nthe online presence of FCTA and its agencies with a view to marketing them
\nto staff and the general public in order to key into the global
\ninformation flow as capital city and seat of power.<\/p>\n
The committee has since submitted its report but the implementation of
\nsuch reports is usually a challenge and the bane of contemporary
\ngovernance in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Politics<\/p>\n
In Abuja, it has become the tradition for the ruling party and the
\nminister to prove his mettle by ensuring that his party and the party in
\npower win elections in the six area councils of Kuje, Abaji, Bwari, Kwali,
\nGwagwalada and the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).<\/p>\n
The party in power has historically produced the minister, who in turn
\nworks hard to ensure that all the area councils are headed by chairmen
\nproduced by the party. There have been a few cases of the opposition
\nholding forte in one or two of the area councils. There have, however,
\nbeen some cases where the six area councils were evenly divided between
\nthe ruling party and the opposition party and a mix in the composition of
\nlegislative houses.<\/p>\n
In keeping with the tradition, the minister led the campaigns of the All
\nProgressives Congress Congress (APC) in the recently concluded area
\ncouncil election with a strong tone of the change mantra of the President
\nBuhari’s APC-led government.<\/p>\n
The APC won in five of the six area councils though not without the INEC’s
\nown new mantra of inconclusive elections. Surprisingly, the All
\nProgressives Grand Alliance(APGA) seen as a South-eastern-based party
\ncontrolling only Anambra State snatched the Gwagwalada Area Council.<\/p>\n
The victory, was not however, as a result of the acknowledged strong
\npresence of the Igbo people in the area but as a result of the rejection
\nof the APC candidate by a coalition of forces that eventually elected the
\nAPGA candidate.<\/p>\n
Land Administration?<\/p>\n
The story of Abuja would be incomplete without the mention of
\nadministrations that distorted the Abuja masterplan, officials who are
\nadept at distorting land allocation processes, land scams resulting in
\ncases of double or multiple allocations in spite of previous efforts at
\ncomputerising and upgrading land allocation software.<\/p>\n
The situation resulted in multiple litigations between land alottees and
\nbetween allottees and government prompting the FCTA to inaugurate a
\ncommittee to ensure quick dispensation of justice on all land appeals and
\npetitions.<\/p>\n
The committee, is headed by a lawyer and a deputy director in the ministry.<\/p>\n
The committee, according to the FCTA authorities, “would mark the
\nbeginning of an end to injustice and impunity in the FCT land
\nadministration processes”.<\/p>\n
The committee is charged with the job of promptly addressing “appeals and
\npetitions from the public, investigate all land\/property appeals and
\npetitions submitted to the FCTA and duly referred to the committee; make
\nrecommendations for resolution of the appeals and petitions for the
\nconsideration of the permanent secretary and the honourable minister”.<\/p>\n
The committee was further “mandated to ensure due enforcement of all
\napproved recommendations and decisions taken in respect of any
\nland\/property petition and appeal case; to monitor and evaluate compliance
\nwith FCTA decisions on land appeal and petition cases, generate feedback
\nfor the consideration of the permanent secretary and the honorable
\nminister as well as performing other responsibilities as may be assigned
\nby the permanent secretary and the honorable minister.<\/p>\n
While successive administrations concentrated majorly on outsiders seeking
\nland allocations, scant regard was giving to staff and the possibility of
\ntheir owning lands and houses, leaving them at the mercy of the elements,
\nexposing them to corruption and other malpractices.<\/p>\n
The Bello-led government is working in the direction of resolving such
\nchallenges, going by his recent position to provide workers with low
\nincome houses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we need today in Abuja are low income houses which low income
\nearners can afford and that is what my administration would further
\nencourage to take care of the less privileged people in the society.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have too many highbrow houses in Abuja which have remained vacant
\ndespite the housing deficit the workers are experiencing in the city,\u201d he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, while the steps taken so far by the Mohammed Bello
\nadministration are commendable, it is a familiar path taken by previous
\nadministrations which usually falters along the line and sometimes
\ncorruption takes center stage as was the case with the last PDP
\nadministration led by the former Minister, Bala Mohammed.<\/p>\n
Should he follow through with his resolve to change the tradition, the
\nterritory’s development would be assured and the better for it. Should he
\ntow the line of his predecessors, then it would have been business as
\nusual and we would await a restart of another era.<\/p>\n
Idika-Ogor, a public affairs analyst, is based in Abuja<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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