PRESS RELEASE:BELLO LAUDS AMMC FOR SALVAGING ABANDONED VEHICLES … Urges SDAs to Emulate Agency

The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has commended the management of Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) for restoring to life the agency’s broken-down vehicles and machinery rather than procurement of new ones.

The Minister gave this commendation when he inspected 9 vehicles refurbished by AMMC at a modest sum of N6.3million.

The Minister urged other Secretariats, Department and Agencies (SDAs) of the FCTA to emulate the good example of the AMMC which has saved the Administration the more than N225 Million it would have cost it,  to embark on the procurement of new ones.

“We are going to refund you the money you have spent in undertaking the refurbishment of the vehicles,” Bello assured them.

According to the Minister, “This is judicious utilization of funds and I must commend the management of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council for this initiative. This demonstrates that the anticorruption stand of the Buhari Administration and its commitment to prudent management of public resources is bearing fruits.”

The Minister also directed the management of the Council to use the refund he was going to make to the Council as a revolving fund to continue the rehabilitation work on the remaining 25 defunct vehicles in its yard. He observed that most of these vehicles and machines still had lives in them but were abandoned on very flimsy repair excuses. He assured the Council that the Administration would refund the expenses upon the completion of each segment of the repair process.

His words, “There is nothing wrong with auctioning of unserviceable vehicles but it becomes a matter of great concern when it is done when the affected vehicles are still very serviceable.”

Speaking to newsmen on the initiative, the Coordinator AMMC, Comrade Shuaibu Umar disclosed that the Council had chosen the option of refurbishment after conducting a comprehensive assessment of the vehicles and finding them very strong and could still be restored.

The refurbished vehicles include 7 Hilux vans, 2 Hiace buses and a Peugeot 405. Altogether they have an estimated market value of N232 million including the agency’s poster cleaning machine. The agency, it was gathered, spent only 6.3million to bring these vehicles back to functionality. For instance, the agency’s poster cleaning machine and vehicle which is valued at more than N30 million were refurbished with only N600,000.

The Coordinator said the management has been encouraged by the result achieved as the Council now has vehicles to carry out its mandate. The Council, he further disclosed, still has 25 vehicles and machines waiting to be rehabilitated.  

He thanked the FCT Minster for promising to offset the cost borne by the Council in carrying out the repairs, saying the agency is encouraged to do more.

Cosmas Uzodinma
Chief Press Secretary