The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike, has declared the ‘Park n Pay’ scheme in Abuja illegal, following revelations that the scheme was being used to syphon government’s funds under the guise of a legal operation.

Wike made the announcement during a live media parley on Wednesday, marking his one year in office.

The FCT minister expressed his dismay at the scheme’s revenue-sharing formula, where private consultants received 80% of the collected funds, while the FCT administration received a mere 20%.

He condemned the arrangement, while highlighting a significant flaw in the system that allowed private entities to divert funds meant for government use.

Wike further stated that the incident was brought to his attention when a senior advocate reported an attempt by individuals claiming to be from the Transport Secretariat to seize vehicles from his office.

Upon investigation, Wike noted that he discovered that the people were operating under the ‘Park n Pay’ scheme, which he was previously unaware of.

THE WHISTLER reports that the scheme involved an agreement between the Transport Secretariat and private consultants, who collect the majority of the funds.

According to him: “The 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, which appears to have been operating under the radar, highlights a critical flaw in the system that allows private consultants to pocket the lion’s share of revenues meant for the government.

“These are things we need to fight within the system. Sometimes, if you don’t bring it to our attention, we may not know. We can’t be everywhere,” Wike emphasised, while noting the challenges faced in overseeing the sprawling FCT administration.

He continued, “The incident unfolded when a senior advocate reached out to me with a troubling report. He said, ‘Sir, some people came to our office and are trying to seize our cars. They claim to be from the Transport Secretariat’.

“I asked him to give the person the phone, and I asked the person, ‘Who are you?’ He said he is from ‘Park and Pay from the Transport Secretariat.

“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%,” Wike explained, visibly disturbed by the discovery.

The minister emphasised that such activities are illegal and promised immediate action to dismantle the operation.

“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 stated.

In August 2023, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and a group of concessionaires of on-street parking, signed an agreement to restore the ‘park and pay’ scheme in Abuja.

The Permanent Secretary of FCTA, Olusade Adesola, who signed on behalf of the FCTA said that the move was to promote a culture of orderliness and organisation in vehicle parking.

According to him, the initiative will decongest the city and make motoring a more pleasant experience.

Mr Adesola explained that the scheme was suspended in 2014 by an Abuja High Court, on grounds that it was not backed by a law.

He also said that the earlier implementation was without the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The Kano State government has moved against Governor Abba Yusuf’s political godfather, Musa Kwankwaso after the state’s Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) invited the former governor’s nephew Musa Garba Kwankwaso for questioning regarding alleged medical contract scam.

The state government has quickly moved to block N160 million by securing a post-no-debt on an account connected to the state’s local government contract where reports of corruption have been reported.

The government said the move is an effort to retrieve N440 million linked to the medical contracts.

Investigators from the anti-corruption agency are expected to question all those accused of being part of the alleged contract scam which includes Kwankwaso’s nephew, Musa Garba Kwankwaso.

He is anticipated to respond to inquiries about Novomed Pharmaceuticals’ possible role in the contract scam.

The contract was allegedly given without proper procedures, with revelation that each local government was expected to pay roughly N9m per month, for a total monthly payment of N396m.

The alleged scam was revealed by Bello Galadanchi, a Nigerian filmmaker and content creator, who claimed that the state government ordered each of the 44 local government councils to pay roughly N10 million for the drug supply, with Novomed Pharmaceuticals receiving the exclusive contract.

Galadanchi claimed that 25 local governments have already paid the company for August: Dambatta, Warawa, Garun Mallam, Dawakin Tofa, Shanono, Doguwa, Tudun Wada, Gezawa, Ungogo, Nasarawa, Ajingi, Kumbotso, Kabo, Kura, Madobi, Bichi, Tofa, Gwarzo, Rogo, Takai, Kiru, Makoda, Bebeji, and Gabasawa.

Once the terms of the elected council chairmen expired in March,

Governor Yusuf had formed interim management committees for the local governments after the expiration of the terms of council chairmen he inherited from the APC-led government in the state.

However, the interim committees have been accused of not operating in a transparent manner.

Governor Yusuf last week stated that he was unaware of the contract and immediately initiated an immediate investigation.

The chairman of the PCACC, Muhuyi Magaji, said: “We’ve already issued invitations to about five or six individuals, including the permanent secretary of the Ministry for Local Governments, the Director of Planning, and the Director of Local Government Inspection”.

According to him, the commission also called a meeting with the state secretary, the chairman of the Local Governments Directors of Personnel Management Forum, the forum’s public relations officer, and the chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Kano State.

Fidelity Bank has been fined the sum of N555.8m by the National Data Protection Commission, NDPC, for infractions relating to breaches of its customers’ data.

The commission’s National Commissioner, Vincent Olatunji, announced this at the Validation Workshop on the Nigeria Data Protection Act General Application and Implementation Directive on Wednesday in Abuja.

He stated that the tier one bank violated the NDP Act, 2023, and the NDPR, 2019 on data breach and was fined the amount being 0.1 per cent of the Bank’s annual gross revenue in 2023.

The CEO said the fine which represents the highest fine to be issued by the commission was aggravated by the bank’s arrogance and poor cooperation during its investigation.

Olatunji said, “Data protection compliance is important and we have stated that non-compliance will be punished. We have penalties that range from N10m or up to two per cent of gross earnings for the previous year.

“But our approach has been creating awareness and letting people know what we are supposed to be doing and most of the breaches we try to look at the level of breach, impact, and the number of data subjects affected and the level of cooperation by the organisation involved on the remuneration fee.

“Since we started, the major penalty we issued was yesterday (Tuesday) on fidelity bank. For the violation of the NDP Act, 2023, and the NDPR, 2019, we issued a fine of N555.8m and they have to pay. We have observed serious breaches and we have been working with them, investigating the issue since April 2023. But by the time we finalised our findings, they became arrogant and we decided to issue a full penalty on them which is about 0.1 per cent of their earnings for 2023.''

The Naira dropped N27.58 against the dollar at the foreign exchange market between Monday and Tuesday.

This is according to FMDQ data between Monday and Tuesday.

This comes as the Naira depreciated for two consecutive times to N 1,592.06 on Tuesday from N 1,564.48 exchanged last Week Friday.

Similarly, at the black market, the Naira lost N15 on Tuesday as it exchanged N1,615 per dollar from N1,600 last week Friday.

A further analysis showed that Naira has been on the decline since last week on the back of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Retail Dutch Auction System.

Recall that the apex bank’s commenced the Foreign Exchange auction at the beginning of August to curtail the FX demand spike.

The rDUS saw CBN sell $876.26 million to end-users through the banks.

However, weeks into the initiative, the Naira has lost its steam.

This is why the President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators, Aminu Gwadabe said the apex bank is inconsistent with its FX interventions.

Meanwhile, the CBN in a statement by its spokesperson, Sidi Hakama on Tuesday reiterated that its policies and interventions would guarantee FX stability in the country.

The Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Police command has uncovered details of the famous crossdresser, popularly known as ‘Abuja Area Mama, who was murdered earlier this month.

DAILY POST recalls that the lifeless body of the crossdresser was discovered along the Katampe-Mabushi Expressway very early in the morning on August 8.

The FCT Police had commenced investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident.

In a statement on Tuesday, the command’s spokesperson, Josephine Adeh said preliminary investigations revealed that the deceased is one 33-year-old Ifeanyi Chukwu-Agah Benedict.

She said the deceased hails from Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State and resides at Dapé in Karmo Area of the nation’s capital.

According to the PPRO, the family of the deceased have also been contacted, as they are aiding the police with necessary information.

Popular American singer and actress, Jennifer Lopez, also known as J.Lo, has filed for divorce from her husband, Ben Affleck.

DAILY POST reports that the couple, who have been in romance dates since early 2000s, tied the knot in Las Vegas in July 2022.

She filed for divorce on Tuesday August 20 2024, at Los Angeles County Superior Court. Two years after their marriage.

It was reported that the couple had been living separately since 26 April 2024.

Lopez and Affleck first met in 2001 while filming Gigli. Their off screen friendship gradually blossomed into a romance that attracted significant media attention.

Recall that the 55-year-old actress married singer Marc Anthony in 2004. In 2005 Affleck married actress Jennifer Garner.

This was Lopez fourth marriage and the second for actor Affleck, 52.

Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in Nigeria have raised concerns over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) inconsistent dollar allocations, which they believe are impeding the recovery of the naira. The operators pointed out that the lack of regular and predictable dollar supply from the CBN is causing a loss of confidence in the foreign exchange (forex) market, leading to increased pressure on the parallel market.

To alleviate the forex scarcity, the CBN had approved the sale of $20,000 to BDC operators at a rate of N1450 per dollar on July 18, 2024. This measure was intended to strengthen the naira, particularly in the retail segment of the market. However, despite this intervention, the exchange rate remains high and volatile, with the dollar trading at N1590 in the parallel market.

Aminu Gwadebe, President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), noted that the inconsistency in the CBN’s dollar supply has contributed to ongoing volatility in the forex market. He emphasized that the lack of frequent interventions has increased demand pressure and further weakened the naira.

“The problem is the streamlining, only once, is it on the 18th of July or so? Like you said, about three weeks, till now, no sales again,” Gwadebe remarked, highlighting the sporadic nature of the CBN’s interventions.

Gwadebe called for the CBN to engage in more frequent dollar sales to currency traders. He suggested that sales could occur once or twice a week to ensure a more stable and predictable flow of dollars into the market. According to him, regularity and volume, coupled with a clear cut-off time, would encourage market participants to engage more confidently, thereby improving liquidity and stabilizing the exchange rate.

“But if I know the window is open for one month for me to buy and with no cut-off time, and then I am not sure when it will come again, people will not be encouraged to come into the market,” he explained, stressing the need for consistency in the CBN’s forex interventions.

National Union of Electricity Employees, (NUEE), has threatened to shut down the power sector if the President of Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC), Joe Ajaero, is arrested.

WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that the Intelligence Response Team, (IRT), arm of the Nigerian Police Force, (NPF), had on Monday, August 19, invited Ajaero, for questioning over alleged Criminal Conspiracy, Terrorism Financing, Treasonable Felony, Subversion and Cybercrime. 

NUEE’s Acting General Secretary, Igwebike Dominic, while reacting in a statement, said that NUEE noted with utter dismay the political machinations surrounding the police invitation of its General Secretary-cum-President of Nigeria Labour Congress – Comrade Joe Ajaero as a purported fall out of the politically-motivated investigation into an alleged trump up charges of terrorism financing, cybercrime, subversion, criminal conspiracy and treasonable felony against him.

The statement noted that it was not only embarrassing, but childish and clueless for the Federal Government of Nigeria to take to the antics of witch-hunting, harassment, intimidation and name-calling instead of coming out openly to apologize to the Congress and its leadership for the unlawful invasion of NLC National headquarters few days ago.

According to the statement, the choice by the Government to stifle labour and free speech in the country as a tool to compel Nigerians to continue to suffer in silence in the face of government policies that were not favorable to the people was quite deplorable. 

The statement said, “Those in government, especially elected leaders, should be mindful of their actions in times like this, if they have the love of the country at heart.”

It emphasised that it was so painful to see this happening in a democracy where it is supposed to be ‘Government of the people, by the people and for the people’, lamenting that what Nigerians have is simply the government of the selected few, for themselves against the people.

The NUEE’s Acting General Secretary noted that it was a blatant abuse of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and International Labour Organization Conventions especially convention 87 and 98, was unacceptable and would be vehemently resisted.

The Union condemned in its entirety what it called Government’s interference in the Labour movement through the weapons of intimidation and official harassment of Labour Leaders, in the country, warning that in the event that Comrade Ajaero is arrested, they will have no choice but to go with the NLC directives.

NUEE called on their National, Zonal, State and Chapter leadership to commence immediate mobilization of their teaming members in Generation, Transmission and Distribution to withdraw their services in the event that Comrade Joe Ajaero is arrested.

They also called on the Federal Government to tread with caution as the entire Nation was angry and heated up already because of the hunger and hyper-inflation in the land.

According to NUEE, “The rights of citizens must be respected and guaranteed if the country must move forward.”