The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) is not in conflict with the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCTA), AMAC Chairman Abdullahi Adamu Candido has clarified.
Rather, he said, as the present occupant of that seat, he owed his would-be successors and indeed residents of the area council an obligation to ensure what belongs to them was not taken by another authority.
Candido spoke Tuesday at a parley with journalists at the AMAC headquarters, Area 10, Abuja.
Responding to questions on duplication of revenues by both the council and the FCTA, the council boss said certain areas were statutorily the responsibility of AMAC and not FCTA.
Taking the tenement rate as case in point, Adamu said: “The council is not in conflict with FCTA over tenement rate but only protecting what belongs to the people of the area council. We refused to get intimidated. What we are doing is not conflict but doing what is statutorily the responsibility of the council.
“Same goes for outdoor advertising too. For us, we are only stating the fact which the people must know on who owns and controls what. This is the case here. By the grace of God and with the new template of Ease of Doing Business, we are trying to see how best we can synergise and work together so that at the end of it all, you(FCTA) gain, we gain and the people won’t suffer.“
The council boss further said the next government coming after his “certainly has to sit up so that it’s not denied of its rights. So, basically, I must say we have no conflict with the FCTA because what belongs to them is theirs and what belongs to us is ours.”
When asked what the area council offers the people from whom tenement rates were collected, Adamu said the revenue collected was always used to service the needs of people in the rural areas.
“Tenement rate by law is a two-way thing. You collect from fairly well-to-do to service the needs of the lesser ones. The estate already has infrastructure, so what am I going to do there? Rural areas need more of the council’s attention. Tenement rates and revenue from other sources are transferred to rural areas so they can also have and enjoy the benefits of the infrastructure in the metropolis. But that does not mean we won’t be complimenting the efforts of the federal government. Yes, we may not have means to provide roads, but we also do some other things like giving transformers to estates.
“Also, AEPB is statutorily charged with refuse collection, but we also compliment as we collect waste in rural areas. The challenge here is that three hours after refuse had been cleared from a particular spot, you see same level of refuse at that point. This exactly is the experience and the fund is not there to do this. So, it’s not our making.”
Asked what the revenue base is, the AMAC boss said: “The base is good. Revenue is best for FCT area councils. For AMAC , it’s supposed to be better? But why is it not? This conflict! Revenue base very fertile, but the conflict makes things difficult. In fact, the last two years have made it worse.”