Aminat Yahaya —
During an interaction with the Abuja Editors Forum at the Archives and History Bureau, the Director, Information and Communication of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Muhammad Sule yesterday appealed to residents of Abuja to pay their taxes, especially ground rents and other land-related charges.
Sule said these taxes and charges are needed funds to provide critical infrastructure and other essential services for the well-being of residents.
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He said that most of FCT residents were unable to pay the prescribed taxes, despite understanding that non-payment of tax was a breach of the law.
The FCTA director emphasised that non-payment of tax could deny a citizen his fundamental rights, therefore, appealed to residents to pay their taxes in order not to run fowl of the law.
According to him, the present leadership of the FCTA was breaking new grounds in the provision of necessary infrastructure.
He said that six regional roads, as well as important roads in the satellite towns of the FCT, were being rapidly developed.
He stated that paucity of funds was hindering the government from speedily completing some of signature projects embarked upon by the FCTA.
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Sule said that the present administration under the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, inherited a lot of abandoned projects.
He said the administration was working assiduously to complete them in line with PresidentMuhammadu Buahari’s vision for the grown and development of the nation’s capital city.
He explained that the administration has embarked on the construction of ‘Greater Abuja Water Project designed to supply potable water to about 50 estates and other mass housing schemes.
He reiterated that the project, when completed, would provide potable water for about 1.5 million homes across the PhasesIIIand IV of the FCT and its environs.
In the area of security of lives and property, Sule said that the administration was working in synergy with various security agencies to provide adequate security for residents and visitors alike.
He stated that the administration had procured state-of-the-art security gadgets to efficiently boost their operational capacity so as to effectively tackle crimes and criminality within the territory.
The FCTA director disclosed that the administration was deploying stand-alone solar-powered streetlights to light Abuja and prevent nocturnal crimes.
He, therefore, appealed the Abuja Editors Forum to support the FCTA by positively reporting its laudable programmes and activities.
Responding on behalf of forum members, Mr.Malachy Uzendu, an Editor with Authority newspapers, commended Sule for organising the meeting.
He said the meeting had exposed the editors to the numerous projects being executed by the FCTA, which remained under-reported.
He said that the FCT was very dear to their hearts because majority of them had worked and lived their entire lives in Abuja.
Uzendu asssured the FCTA that the forum would do everything to support it in its quest to improve the living conditions of the residents, as well as the infrastructure in the city.
He urged the Information and Communication Department to make the forum a regular one.
Uzendu called for collaborationbetween the FCTA and the Abuja Editors Forum.
