Senate Committee Deplores Untidy State of FCT, Gives Councils 21 Days for Clean-up

The Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday gave the area councils a 21-day ultimatum to clean up the nooks and crannies of the territory including markets and motor parks or face sanctions.

While handing down the ultimatum, chairman of the committee, Senator Dino Melaye, after the committee’s meeting with the chairmen of the six area councils of FCT, said no state capital city around the world was as dirty as Abuja.

“This committee is giving you three weeks to clean up the metropolis, the environmental sanitation in the FCT particularly the area councils especially Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) is poor. You see heaps of rubbish on the road side. Abuja is the pride of Africa. We cannot let this continue.

“After three weeks if you don’t clean up the FCT we will clean you up: you cannot be collecting revenue from the market and the market will be very dirty. You go to our parks and it is an eye sore: two weeks you won’t clean the parks and you are generating money from that park, and when they ask you will say there is no money.

“We are very serious about cleaning up the city within three weeks, clean up Abuja: especially the satellite towns,” he said.
The committee also wondered why despite a lot of monies being generated from markets and parks, they remain dirty, claiming that they remain uncleaned for weeks.

It also charged the chairmen to provide the account of revenues they have generated from markets and parks adding that the committee would not mind spending a whole day with the area councils to ascertain exactly how much they generate everyday.

“I am going to sit down with you from morning till closing time in Jabi Park. I am going to personally sign all the tickets that will be issued that day. I want to see what you are generating from what you have in your books. The era of personalising our common wealth is over.
“So, if you have been doing it wrongly then you must repent and right the wrongs of the past,” he threatened.

He also charged all the area councils’ chairmen who were present at the meeting to go back and prepare for the visit of the committee.