The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has advised the newly sworn in political aids to shun all forms of corrupt practices, adding that the administration has zero tolerance for corrupt practices.
The Minister who gave the warning at swearing of mandate secretaries, and other senior political appointees of the FCT administration on Tuesday in Abuja.
His words: “This underscores our zero tolerance for corruption and corrupt practices. We will however be deluding ourselves to think that we are out of the woods. A lot of work still needs to be done and I once more wish to reiterate that anyone found guilty of malfeasance will not be shielded and will certainly be punished to the full extent of the law.
“It was also our intention to strengthen the institutions of governance in the FCT and rekindle public confidence on the Administration’s bureaucratic machinery.
“Abuja is one of the fastest growing and most dynamic cities in the world and the need for funds to meet its requirement for infrastructure upgrade and expansion is very enormous.
“As we must know by now, I have made passionate appeals to the national Assembly and the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission to consider increasing the financial allocation to the FCT to meet its growing demands. I once again, passionately, make this appeal”.
He continued; “On our part, we are determined to increase our Internally Generated Revenue profile and are currently second only to Lagos in IGR receipts. We have the potential to be number one in Nigeria and are determined to do this.
“The creation of the new Economic Planning, Revenue Generation and PPP Mandate Secretariat is as a result of our ambitions in this direction and I call on the gentleman saddled with the responsibility of coordinating the affairs in this new, but very important Secretariat to live up to our high expectations of him
“Going forward, we have a lot to accomplish as it is our intention to leave behind a lasting legacy for the people of the FCT .Going by established projections, the FCT currently has a population in excess of 5 million people and this number is increasing exponentially.
“This population growth naturally drives up demands for educational, health, transportation, waste management, security and housing services. The inability to meet up with this burgeoning demands (largely due to inadequate finances) has led to overstretched facilities, and in extreme cases, criminal and other anti-social scenarios”, he said.
Bello however, stated that, Mandate Secretaries and other relevant appointees must therefore immediately key into on-going activities within their jurisdiction and help drive it further with more purpose and grit.
“For instance, all Secretaries and heads of relevant Agencies and Departments must key into our urban renewal agenda with the restoration of provisions of the Abuja Masterplan, waste management, city cleanliness and environmental protection.
