Motorists plying Abuja’s busiest roads now face a new hazard beyond traffic gridlock: bogus fee collectors in red T-shirts emblazoned with “FCT Haulage,” as the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) moves to shield drivers from what it calls unauthorised shakedowns.
In a pointed advisory issued Sunday, Kingsley Madaki, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs to AMAC Executive Chairman Christopher Maikalangu, put commercial drivers and haulage operators on high alert.
The council explicitly disowns anyone flashing those branded tops while demanding payments, insisting it has neither recognised nor authorised such attire for revenue runs within its borders. “Be attentive when approached by individuals wearing red T-shirts bearing ‘FCT Haulage’ inscriptions,” the statement warns, urging all to insist on official AMAC demand notices and valid ID cards before parting with any cash.
AMAC frames this as more than a mere housekeeping note—it’s a frontline defence in a simmering turf war over who controls the purse strings on haulage fees, those mandatory levies on heavy trucks and lorries meant to fund road repairs amid Abuja’s punishing wear and tear.
At its core, the advisory spotlights AMAC’s firm stance that haulage revenue belongs squarely to local governments under Nigeria’s laws. “It is the position of the Area Council that revenue on haulage is within the constitutional responsibilities of local governments,” the statement declares, adding that “it is the constitutional right of the Area Council, not the FCT, to collect revenue on haulage.” For years, AMAC and the other five FCT Area Councils—Abaji, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, and Kwali—have locked horns with the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in drawn-out talks over this very issue, accusing FCTA Transport Secretariat agents of “overstepping their bounds and infringing on the legal responsibilities of the local government.”
This isn’t armchair posturing. Haulage fees represent a steady cash cow for councils, critical for patching potholes and maintaining the arteries of Abuja’s urban sprawl, from the Airport Road haulers to Nyanya’s truck depots. AMAC stresses that only its stamped notices legitimise collections, and it beseeches the public to report any rough encounters straight to police or other law enforcement outfits. The goal, per the release, is straightforward: guide motorists right and lock in “proper revenue administration” across its vast jurisdiction, which blankets the capital’s densest zones like Garki, Wuse, Maitama, and Asokoro.
These red-t-shirt skirmishes trace back to the FCT’s quirky power setup, born from the 1976 Federal Capital Territory Act that carved Abuja out as a neutral ground, neither fully state nor local fiefdom. The 1991 AMAC Act fleshed out the six councils’ roles, but tensions boiled over in the early 2000s as FCTA, under ministers wielding governor-like clout, muscled into markets, motor parks, and now haulage—territories councils see as theirs by right under Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, which carves out local government financial autonomy.
A pivotal 2006 Supreme Court verdict handed councils a win, affirming their cut of sundry revenues like tenement rates and truck levies, yet FCTA pushback persisted through policy tussles and joint committees. Fast-forward to 2018: Area Councils dragged the FCTA to court over market dues, netting temporary injunctions. By 2020, haulage heated up anew with fresh lawsuits, while 2024 saw council staff protests over withheld federal allocations tangled in the same feud. AMAC’s Sunday salvo—timed amid whispers of ramped-up FCTA patrols—signals no let-up, positioning the council as guardians against both revenue raiders and administrative overreach, all while keeping Abuja’s truckers rolling without rogue tolls.
