The government has been withholding payment of the Area Council Service Commission's consultants' unpaid fees since 2020, and they have petitioned Hajia Ramatu Tijani Aliyu, minister of state for the Federal Capital Territory, for their payment.
It has been two years since the completion of the work in question, but the management of the FCT Area Council Service Commission has still not paid the consultants for their services, according to a letter that consultants on training for the commission sent to the minister of state on Friday with the signatures of 44 irate members.
One of the consultants who signed the petition, Mr. Owolabi Olusegun, explained that the action was taken because earlier attempts to collect the roughly N600 million in unpaid consulting fees, including meetings with the commission's acting administrative secretary, Alhaji Musa Loko, on December 19 and 28, 2022, had failed. It was decided during those discussions that payment would start with the December allotment.
One excerpt from the petition reads as follows: “To our dismay, the acting Administrative Secretary failed to stick to the initial agreement reached on December 19, 2022, stating that until further directive from a higher authority is received before payment can commence as agreed. Since the inception of Alhaji Musa Loko in office, 100% of upfront payments have been made to his new consultants without reference to the procurement act and due diligence.
“On this note, we’re appealing and advising our amiable Minister of State to immediately halt further training until when all liabilities owed consultants are paid considering that most of the consultants took loans from banks and are way off mark on remittance of interests coupled with the economic hardship of the day where some cannot pay the school fees of their wards. And to cap it all, some of the consultants are late (dead) as a result of being unable to offset their hospital bills.”