Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have bemoaned the sudden charge of N2,000 as ‘Radio Clearance/Permit by the management of Abuja Municipal Area council (AMAC).

LEADERSHIP gathered that this development has led to face-off between vehicle owners and officials of the council.

Some of the vehicle owners who narrated their ordeals to LEADERSHIP reveal that the development has exposed innocent citizens to untold hardship and harassment by the AMAC officials.

A car owner Kayode Egbeneye stated on his social media that he bumped into officials of AMAC who demanded that he must pay N2,000 as license permit to use car stereo, before he can have access to move his car.

Egbeneye explained that when he told the officials that he was cashless, the official suggested he should transfer the said amount to them which he did.

He said that the money probably was sent to a private account of one of the officials, as the account details do not carry any information showing AMAC.

Another vehicle owner Abdullahi Sani said he was harassed by the AMAC officials who forced his passengers out of the vehicle, demanding his permits.

Sani described the AMAC officials as touts, and called on the AMAC to put a halt to it.

He averred that the annual radio clearance is ill timed, despite the fact the AMAC has failed to provide the FCT residents with necessary infrastructure to make their life more meaningful.

“The AMAC has failed us. Schools within the FCT are begging for urgent attention from AMAC. Roads that connect local are bad shape.

“This is nothing but double taxation. AMAC need to rethink on how to better the lives of the FCT residents and not introducing unnecessary tax burden on FCT resident,” he said.

A senior civil servant who simply identifies himself as Joseph lamented that there are currently no awareness about the permit.

He noted that it is unreasonable to introduce such permit.

When contacted for comment, the press secretary to the AMAC chairman, Dayo Lawal, said he don’t want to comment on the issue for now as there are confusion surrounding the issuance of the permit, at the moment. He added that he will contact our correspondent as soon as he gets clarification on the issue.

This certificate covers the rest of 774 local government council nationwide as proscribed by Joint Tax Board (JTB).

•Sourced from LEADERSHIP.

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