ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has quizzed the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) over the reintroduction of the ‘park and pay’ policy in the territory.
In an interactive session with Chinedum Elechi, Mandate Secretary in charge of the Transportation Secretariat, the committee chaired by Rep Muktar Aliyu Betara, asked the officials to explain how the policy was brought back after a court had earlier declared it illegal.
The committee lamented that residents and motorists in the nation’s capital were being harassed by those employed to enforce the policy.
Reports that FCTA reintroduced the park and pay policy into the nation’s capital in August, 2023, after signing an agreement with two concessionaires.
The policy was suspended in April 2014 after a high court judgement stopped the FCTA from collecting fees from residents for on-and-off the street parking within the metropolis. The court ruled that the policy was not backed by law.
However, at the session, Betara demanded details of how the reintroduced park and pay arrangement was established, who authorised it, and how remittances were being made to the coffers of the FCTA.
Responding, Elechi said the policy was regulated and supported by a legal framework and that only designated areas serve as parking zones.
“The park and pay is by regulation. We have a legal framework. It is part of the ways of controlling traffic. So, under the park and pay, designated areas are meant to be parks. So, it is legal.
