FCTA vs AMAC court adjourns case till Feb 2022

A case between the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, and Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, on whose duty it is to carry out waste disposal within the FCT has been adjourned till February,2022.

Recall that the Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy (CFRPA), a non-governmental organization (NGO) committed to the advancement of good governance in Nigeria, particularly in adherence to constitutional provisions and the preservation of the rights and autonomy of Local Government Areas in Nigeria, had approached the Federal High Court in a Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1585/2020 accusing AMAC and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) of alleged connivance with the Federal Capital Territory Administration by relinquishing its constitutional responsibility of undertaking waste disposal in Abuja to the FCTA

The court had set Wednesday, December 1, for hearing of the case.

By their legal action, the plaintiff queried the veracity and legitimacy of the involvement of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in waste disposal contracts and sought an order of court restraining them forthwith.

When the case came up on Wednesday, December 1, the plaintiff, FCT Minister, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) were duly represented by their counsels in person.

Recall that, by a motion on notice, the FCT Minister had sought to be joined in the suit, to which the plaintiff through a counter-affidavit challenged.

The hearing and determination of the application by the FCT Minister to join the suit were stalled by the fact that Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) also filed and served its counter affidavit in opposition to the said application.

The suit was then further adjourned to the 22nd day of February 2022 for the hearing of the motion. Alhaji Abdulkarim Baba Bello, the Director, Projects Monitoring and Compliance for Healthcare Waste Managers Association of Nigeria (HWMAN) however confirmed that parties to the suit have initiated Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and were likely to reach consensus ad idem before the next adjourned date.

Alhaji Bello described the suit as a father and son tussle that is sought to be resolved by a third party, the NGO. On the likelihood of an amicable resolution, Alhaji Bello said parties were already in dialogue with one another and further said it was in the best interest of the concerned parties to resolve as litigation may occasion permanent acrimony on dissatisfied parties.

Bello who also lamented that keeping Abuja clean should not be subjudis (before the court) as the fight between elephants has adverse effects on the welfare of the people of the FCT further tasked concerned stakeholders to be more involved in the process to bring the issue to a permanent solution so as to sustain the status of the Abuja of the people’s dream.

Several agencies are funded by the FCTA, including the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, concerned with waste collection and disposal and other environmental matters; the Abuja Geographical Information System, which provides a geo-spatial data infrastructure and a one stop for all land matters for the FCT, used to facilitate land acquisition and others.