The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has sealed the Federal Ministry of Works, Federal Character Commission, Merit House Maitama, and Murg Plaza over waste management debts owed to the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB).
Addressing journalists during the exercise, the Director of the board, Engr. Osilama Briamah said the affected agencies refused to pay for the services of the board.
He explained that the board had a huge amount lying without response from the defaulters.
“We tried to negotiate to have a better way to achieve results, but there was no positive response; we gave them a payment plan, but many of them refused to take the opportunity seriously. The board then resorted to legal means to recover the debts. The board got court orders to seal the premises,” he said.
According to him, the exercise, which has just begun, will cover all public and private offices under the board.
A senior magistrate court sitting in Wuse II, Abuja, had served the defendants with summons to appear before it on March 30, 2022, but they failed to honour the court.
The breakdown of the debts showed that the Federal Ministry of Education owed N25,838,275, the Federal Ministry of Defense N17,220,775.00, and the Federal Character Commission N10,128,906.25.
Others include the Civil Service Commission–N2,451,649.50, Revenue mobilisation and fiscal commission—N21,683,750.00; Federal ministry of Health N 14,204,843.75, Federal ministry of Trade & Investment—N19,222,287.50, Federal Ministry of Works — N9,998,625.00, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Wuse- N16,583,031.25.
The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the minister of FCT, Ikahro Attah, who led the enforcement, said the operation followed the initiative put together by the minister of FCT and the permanent secretary to recover the extreme debts owed to the board.
Attah stated that the FCT Administration is worried about the high amount being owed to the FCTA.
“FCT Administration needs enough funds to build infrastructure and keep the city running. The administration has decided to go after the Ministries, parastatals, agencies, and private individuals. We cannot wait to see government money tied down; it’s wrong for people not to pay for services rendered,” he said.
