By Daniel Tyokua
A Civil Society Organisation, Abuja Grassroots Development Network has accused the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) of taken steps that have become clog in the wheels of development of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC ).
State coordinator of the group, Comrade Okechukwu Jacobs, alleged that the FCT Area Council Service commission, since assumption of office by the current AMAC chairman, Hon. Christopher Maikalangu, all the departmental heads have been reporting to the commission on daily basis.
Briefing journalists in Abuja at the weekend, Jacobs said the situation if not immediately address would impede strategic Programmes in the council, as well make the chairman helpless.
According to him. departmental heads are key officials in any setting which their inputs is needed to run the council well, which he described their action allegedly ignited by the Area council Commission as a clog in the wheels of AMAC development.
He also blamed the FCT Area Council Service Secretariat (ACSS) for not doing enough to address the challenges being faced by the current leadership of AMAC, describing the situation as unconstitutional.
Jacobs said that members of the organisation who have been disturbed about the slow pace of development in the council decided to launch investigation into the reason behind it and found that there was serious interference from the area council service commission and secretariat.
He explained that 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 a set back for the council chairman, Mr Christopher Maikalangu with his team.
The CSO’s coordinator, said: “From our investigation, we found out that most of the departments’ heads, 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 be loyal to the present chairman of AMAC have diverted their loyalty to the leadership of the commission which is aimed at 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.
“Checks revealed that,l the area council service commission is not fighting the head of departments, but that they are fighting the council chairman through the departmental heads,” he said.
“We observed that the FCTA is putting the heads of departments in checks to ensure 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 Minister of FCT, 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.
