Group Raises Alarm Over Alleged N3bn Advert Revenue Scam In AMAC, Demands Probe

Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), under the auspices of Concerned Citizens of the FCT, have raised an alarm over an alleged massive scheme of embezzlement and criminal misappropriation of public funds within the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

The group, at a press briefing in Abuja, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to investigate the council and take necessary actions against those involved in the alleged fraudulent activities.

It accused AMAC’s Signpost Advert Revenue Unit of siphoning billions of Naira meant for public coffers, leading to an annual revenue loss of approximately N3bn for the FCT.

The Convener of the group, Dr Joel Dipo, who spoke on behalf of its members, stated that they decided to speak out as concerned citizens following several investigations into the allegations.

He confirmed that they had filed the complaint on behalf of “concerned taxpayers” in the FCT.

He alleged that the revenue unit, which acts as a Technical Partner for Revenue Generation, collects money daily from the public for signpost advertisements without remitting the funds to AMAC.

“There is a fraud going on in the FCT perpetrated in the advertising industry. The Federal Capital Territory is losing an annual revenue of about N3bn to miscreants, with whom they have a sharing formula,” he said.

Dipo highlighted a jurisdictional conflict, pointing to the FCT’s Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage (DOAS) as the legally mandated body for revenue collection.

He alleged that AMAC is actively undermining DOAS to facilitate the fraud.

“Rather, they are stealing and siphoning money through what is called the first-party advert for their selfish purposes. So, what they do is they don’t allow the FCT Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage to collect the money and remit it to the FCTA,” he stated.

“AMAC is collecting this money. They are sharing it on good authority between Donald and the AMAC officials,” he alleged.

He claimed that the misappropriated funds, which he estimates could reach over N LG 3bn annually if properly managed, are being used for personal enrichment instead of community development.

“They refuse to use it for any developmental work, they don’t construct roads or do anything that would benefit AMAC residents. The money that goes to AMAC, they just use it anyhow, using public funds to buy perfumes, cars and clothes, and to do all sorts of things.

“If only the Honourable Minister is just going to look away from land and look into advertisement revenues in the council, he will see how much the FCTA is losing annually on just adverts, the Minister has the capacity annually to generate over ₦5bn from adverts.

“From my investigation, AMAC is collecting this money and they are sharing it between Donald and the AMAC officials. They refuse to use it for any developmental work on roads. The AMAC chairman is simply doing nothing. He has nothing to better the lot of people living in council,” he stated.

“The council chairman, Hon. Christopher Maikalangu, is allowing the fraud to persist because he is part of it. That was what happened with the street naming fraud until the FCT minister stepped into it and put an end to it.

“They are just generating revenue and sharing it among themselves for personal use. Imagine giving private individuals the name ‘AMAC’ and making them signatories to the account, without any government functionaries.

“From our investigation, 100 per cent of what DOAS generates goes straight to remittance for the government to use to develop the FCT, while 100 per cent of what AMAC generates goes straight to private accounts for their personal use.
This is a very serious matter and the minister needs to look into it before it gets out of hand,” he said.