Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has declared the Park and Pay scheme in the nation’s capital as illegal.

The minister made the declaration during a parley with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.

The interactive session was put together to mark his one year in office.

He said, “A call from a Senior Advocate brought to light a scheme that has been siphoning government funds under the guise of a legal operation.

“The scheme, which appears to have been operating under the radar, highlights a critical flaw in the system that allows private consultants to pocket the lion share of revenues meant for the government.

“These are things we need to fight within the system. Sometimes, if you don’t bring it to our attention, we may not know. We can’t be everywhere.

“The incident unfolded when a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, reached out to me with a troubling report. He said, ‘Sir, some people came to our office and they are trying to seize our cars. They claim to be from the Transport Secretariat’. I asked him to give the person the phone, and I asked the person, ‘Who are you?’ He said, “He is from ‘Park and Pay from the Transport Secretariat.”

Wike said he immediately sought clarification.

“I wasn’t aware of this, so I called the person in charge of it. I asked, ‘Who collects the money?’ Unknown to us, there are agreements between the Secretariat and some people who claim to be consultants. So, the consultant takes 80%, and the FCT Administration takes 20%.”

He declared the scheme illegal, assuring that immediate action would be taken to dismantle the operation.

“I’m trying to say that it’s illegal, and nothing like that exists. And if my colleague hadn’t called me, I wouldn’t have known,” he concluded.