The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, Nyesom Wike, has said that starting January 2025, the FCT Administration will not allow unregistered vehicles in the capital.
He also stated that all commercial buses operating in the capital would be registered by the Nigeria Police Force(NPF) and the Department of State Services (DSS).
Wike made these remarks on Thursday during the FCT Renewed Hope Youth Empowerment Programme in Abuja, where he provided new cars to beneficiaries to use as taxis.
“They are not paying a dime. No. The government is saying this is our support to feed your family and reduce the cost of transportation in the city.
“Abuja should compete with other cities in the world,” the minister said.
He urged the beneficiaries not to feel embarrassed about being trained to become taxi drivers, noting that many Nigerians who dismiss driving jobs locally are eager to take them on when they go abroad.
To reduce incidents of kidnapping and ‘one-chance’ robbery, the minister announced that starting January 2025, any commercial bus that is not properly registered with security agencies will not be permitted to operate within the capital city.
“Most of the Keke Napep and most of the motorcycles are informants. Everybody here that is a beneficiary is being profiled by the security.
“And so what we are coming up with is that from January next year, there will be nobody that will operate as a taxi driver or a bus driver without having approval from security, with security profiling you and without going about with the Abuja colour.
“Nothing like using any vehicle on the road. No, we won’t allow that. From January, we won’t allow that.
“We will take the vehicle number, name of the drivers and the rest so everybody will have confidence that this is the vehicle I’m entering in case anything happens,” he added.
