FCTA suspends ‘Park & Pay ‘ scheme

The FCT Administration (FCTA) yesterday suspended the Park and Pay scheme, which was ruled illegal by an Abuja High Court Thursday last week.

In his judgment, Justice Peter Affen held that the policy was not backed by law.

A firm, Sun Trust Savings and Loans Limited had challenged the legality of the policy.

A statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the FCT Minister Nosike Ogbuenyi said the suspension was in respect of the court judgment

Nosike said, “As a law abiding organization that strongly believes in the rule of law, the FCT Administration has decided to comply with the judgment of the court.

“By this decision, all the operators licensed by the FCT Administration have been directed to immediately suspend the operation of the scheme to give full effect to the judgment.”

FCT Minister Bala Mohammed in Dec. 2011 introduced Park and Pay in Abuja where vehicle owners within the main city would pay a minimum fee of N50 for parking.

This policy makes it mandatory for all vehicle owners to pay a fee of N50 for every 30 minutes between the hours of 7:00am to 7:00pm that their cars remain parked along the road.

Failure to pay this N50 would incur the wrath of traffic officials who clamped vehicles and demanded N15, 000 fine.

This policy generated anger among motorists. Many motorists described it as a form of extortion.

But government always insisted that the scheme enabled effective traffic management and control and that it is in tune with the standard practice in many mega cities around the world.

Nosike revealed that FCTA will review the FCT Road Transport Regulation, 2005 to clear the legal encumbrance and capture the onstreet park and pay scheme.