How FCT Minister, David Mark, Ekweremadu, Fleece FCT Ministry
The Senate President, David Mark and his duputy, Ike Ekweremadu, are alleged to have positioned cronies in the Federal Capital Territory Ministry who mastermind the award of multi billion naira contracts to friends and family members, Pointblanknews.com has learnt.
advertisement
Mark and Ekweremadu had nominated fronts to head the Secretariat of Transport and Social Development; Key departments in the FCT Ministry from where juicy contracts are awarded, after a backroom agreement with the FCT minister, Bello Mohammed.
While the Senate President has his daughter, Mrs. Blessing Onuh heading the Social Development Secretariat, the Deputy Senate President has his former Special Assistant, Mr. Jonathan Ivoke Achara heading the transport Secretariat from where Billions of naira worth of contracts are awarded most times without due process, according to information made available to Pointblanknews.com.
“The Senate president and his deputy have taking over the FCT with the full knowledge of the Minister and we have to deal with these people every day and manage their many demand especially in the award of contracts,” a source in the FCT Ministry who would not want to be named told Pointblanknews.com.
The contracts involve road construction projects, waste management, supply of hospital equipment and massive allocation of individual and mass housing plots to cronies, senators and others.
Pointblanknews.com gathered that on assumption of office, FCT minister, in appreciation of the lobby for his appointment, spearheaded by Mark and Ekweremadu, appointed Mark's daughter, Mrs. Onuh, wife of a local government chairman in Benue State and Mr. Achara, a former aide to Ekweremadu as Secretaries in charge of Social Development Secretariat and Transport . The other three secretariats are Health, Education and Agriculture.
The FCT minister recently approved four categories of licenses to public transport operators in the Federal Capital Territory. They are for bus mass transit system, mini bus services, painted taxi services and hired taxi services.
Under the bus mass transit system, two operators namely Shaaxni Nigeria Limited and Abuja Cooperative Transport Services Limited got the license to provide large capacity buses whose take-off have been scheduled for March 31, 2011.
According to a source, the approvals were specifically for companies owned or being represented by cronies of the Senate President, his deputy or the FCT Minister.
The licenses for the mini buses have also been issued to provide area based services in the satellite towns as well as within districts of the federal capital city. The licenses for taxis have gone to three major companies namely Abuja Cooperative Transport Services Limited (ACTS); City Cap and Print Fields, where Ekweremadu and his former aide have substantial interest. The last category of the license is for taxi hire which also went to ACTS and the Corporate Drivers respectively.