In the face of what has been termed as the ‘declining standards’ of the Federal capital;l Territory (FCT), there will be a peaceful protest held tomorrow at the capital. The tenure of Alhaji Mohammed M. Bello as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja has been marred by an increase in violent crimes such as kidnappings, armed robbery and murder; decay of public facilities and infrastructure, and increased opacity in the administration of public funds.
In a statement made by Deji Adeyanju, he said that crime rates are higher and that Alhaji Bello who is the Minister of the FCT has failed to address serious issues plaguing the capital.
The statement says; “The tenure of Alhaji Mohammed M. Bello as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja has been marred by an increase in violent crimes such as kidnappings, armed robbery and murder; decay of public facilities and infrastructure, and increased opacity in the administration of public funds.
“Alhaji Bello’s tenure has also seen a return of activities that had been successfully phased out in the city such street hawking and the use of commercial motorcycles popularly called okada.
“As part of efforts to ensure public sector accountability, we had written two Freedom of Information requests to the Minister seeking information regarding the award of contracts for the supply and installation of security equipment, street & traffic lights, and rapid response equipment and payments made further to the award of these contracts. These letters have been ignored by the minister in order to cover his acts of corruption.”
The statement continued, “What is more, the city continues to wallow in darkness, continues to be increasingly unsafe & insecure, while becoming increasingly unsanitary.
“Alhaji Bello’s tenure has been marred by ineptitude, an inability to manage the City, and several others ills too numerous to mention.
“To end, we will like to invite members of the press to our peaceful procession to protest the rapid decline of the City of Abuja under the administration of Alhaji Mohammed Bello. The procession will hold on Friday April 7th, 2017 by 9am. The meeting point will be in front of FCDA, Kapital Street, Area 11, Abuja.
“We urge members of the press to attend as we take a stand against the poor and ineffective policies of the Mohammed Bello led administration of the FCT.”
