Plans to strip AMAC of constitutionally awarded revenues uncovered

By Ukpono Ukpong

An indigenous civil society organisation under the auspice of Abuja Grassroots Development Network (AGDN) has raised alarm over plots by an agency in the FCTA to strip the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of almost all the constitutionally approved revenues.

This, according to the group, is a deliberate move to frustrate all effort of the Council’s administration to provide the basic amenities for residents in the area council thereby rendering the Hon. Christopher Maikalanku-led government useless and non-performing.

The group who specifically blamed the FCT Area Council Service Commission for the move to render AMAC useless alleged that the leadership of the commission has mandated that all departmental heads of the council should always report there on daily basis, which they said is unconstitutional.

The state coordinator of the group, Comrade Jacob Okechukwu Jacobs who made this known in what was described as an emergency press briefing, said that members of the organisation who have been disturbed about the slow pace of work in the council decided to investigate the reason behind it and found that there is a serious interference from the area council service commission.

According to the organisation, the leadership of the commission has taken it as a responsibility to ensure that nothing is done in the council, without approval from the commission, which has been militating against developmental moves by the chairman of the council, Mr. Christopher Maikalangu, and his executives.

“From our investigation, we found out that most of the departments’ heads which include the head of administration, head of personnel management, acting council treasurer, and head of the audit of the council among other sensitive departments, who are supposed to the loyal to the present chairman of AMAC have diverted their loyalty to the leadership of the commission who is working on rendering the council comatose.

“It is unconstitutional for directors of departments in a council to report to the administrative secretary on daily basis for instructions when they have an elected council chairman to always report to. From our investigation, we were told that the area council service commission is not fighting the head of departments, but that they are fighting the council chairman through the heads,” he said.

The group described it as a clear sabotage to the Maikalangu-led AMAC administration, saying that as a civil society organisation they will not sit down and watch things go wrong in the council.

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“We observed that the FCTA is putting the heads of departments in checks in ensuring that they guide the chairman now to the cravings of the FCTA, to the extent that no memos, no approval, and advisories are coming from any department and things are at a standstill for the past one month now.

“We are aware that things are going this way because the AMAC chairman has refused to bow to their plots to collect all sources of revenue in the council, which over three different courts of competent jurisdiction have granted judgment in favour of AMAC in respect of their constitutional responsibility to collect revenues like an outdoor advertisement, mobile adverts, street naming and other sources of revenue generation.

“All these moves against AMAC have been working against the development of the council since the emergence of this administration. So, we are appealing to the FCT minister, Malam Mohammed Bello, who we know has a good heart and does not condole illegality to intervene and ensure that the right thing is done in respect to AMAC,” he said.