The FCT Administration has appealed to the residents of the Federal Capital Territory to endeavour to pay their tax, especially Ground Rents and other land-related charges.
The Administration said, payment of tax is a constitutional obligation bestowed on the citizenry, which would assist the government in providing critical infrastructure and social services.
The Director, Information and Communication, FCT, Muhammad Hazat Sule, stated this during an interaction with the Abuja Editors Forum, Wednesday at the Archives and History Bureau, Central Business District, Abuja.
He said the Administration needs funds to provide critical infrastructure and other essential services for the well-being of the residents of the Federal Capital Territory.
Sule lamented that most of the residents of the Territory found it difficult in paying the prescribed taxes, even though they know that non-payment of tax is a breach of the law.
The Director emphasized that non-payment of tax can deny a citizen of his fundamental rights and therefore, appealed to the residents to pay their taxes in order not to run foul of the law.
According to him, the present leadership of the FCT Administration under the FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, is breaking new grounds in the provision of necessary infrastructure; revealing that six regional roads, as well as important roads in the Satellite Towns of the FCT, are being rapidly developed by the Administration.
He stated that for paucity of funds is hindering the government from speedily completing some of the signature projects embarked upon by the FCT Administration.
Sule said that the present Administration inherited a lot of abandoned projects, but it is working assiduously in completing them in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision for the growth and development of the nation’s capital city.
The Director explained that the Administration has embarked on the construction of the ‘Greater Abuja Water Project’ that is designed to supply portable water to about 50 Estates and Mass Housing schemes.
He reiterated that the project when completed will provide portable water to about 1.5 million homes across the Phases III & IV of the Federal Capital City and environs.
In the area of security of lives and property, the Director said that the Administration is working in synergy with various security Agencies in the Territory to provide adequate security for residents and visitors alike.
He stated that the Administration has procured state-of-the-art security gadgets to efficiently boost their operational capacity to effectively tackle crime and criminality within the Territory.
The Director disclosed that the Administration has begun massive deployment of stand-alone solar-powered streetlights to lit Abuja and prevent nocturnal crimes.
He, therefore, appealed to the Abuja Editors Forum to support the Administration by positively reporting its laudable programmes and activities.
Responding on behalf of the members of the Abuja Editors Forum, Mr Malachy Uzendu, an Editor with the Authority Newspaper, commended the Director for organizing the meeting, which he said has exposed the Editors to the numerous infrastructures projects being executed by the FCT Administration, which remained under reported.
He said that the FCT is very dear to their hearts because the majority of them have worked and lived their entire lives in Abuja and would do everything to support the Administration in its quest to improve the living condition of the residents and the state of infrastructure in the city; urging the Information and Communication Department to make this forum a regular one.
Uzendu, therefore, called for collaboration between the FCT Administration and the Abuja Editors Forum.
PIAK
