Post by Vanguard Newspapers (@vanguardngrnews)
By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: The Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA has issued a fresh warning to commercial transport operators still working from illegal parks and roadside locations across Abuja, insisting they relocate to designated bus terminals or risk having their operations shut down and their vehicles impounded.
Mandate Secretary, FCTA Transportation Secretariat, Mr Chinedum Elechi, gave the warning on Thursday at a news conference in Abuja.
According to him, all unauthorised loading points would be shut down and non-compliant vehicles seized outright.
Elechi said the Administration had earlier directed transport operators to fully migrate operations into ultra-modern bus terminals, starting with the facility in Mabushi, adding that the clampdown on unauthorised motor parks was in direct fulfilment of a mandate handed down by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to restore order, decency and security to the nation’s capital.
“The Federal Capital City is the capital of Nigeria, just like London is to the UK or Paris to France. Our capital cannot be different. At the root of decency and a modern city is a functional public transportation system. The days of everybody doing what they like in the FCT are over,” he said.
He disclosed that the FCTA has committed billions of Naira to constructing ultra-modern terminals in Mabushi, Kugbo and the Central Business District CBD, describing it as the first time in the FCT’s 50-year history that such state-of-the-art transit hubs have been developed.
According to Elechi, centralising transit operations within official terminals goes beyond improving the city’s outlook and boosting tourism, saying it is central to tackling criminality, particularly illegal transit operations locally known as “one chance” robberies, alongside drug and arms trafficking.
He cited a recent trial enforcement exercise as validation of the administration’s stance. “About two weeks ago, we carried out a trial enforcement and impounded vehicles after issuing quit notices. Believe it or not, we discovered highly illegal products inside some of those ad-hoc seizures. What we saw was frightening. As such, proper profiling of operators at official terminals will dramatically reduce citywide insecurity,” he said.
To manage the terminals efficiently, the FCTA has partnered with private operators, including Planet Projects, under a Public-Private Partnership PPP arrangement.
Elechi dismissed suggestions that government was out to strip transporters of their livelihoods, describing the exercise as a relocation from hazardous roadside setups into fully equipped, secure facilities.
“We are not taking food from anybody’s table. We are asking you to leave unsafe, unhealthy roadside locations for modern bus terminals built with government resources. Nobody is going to lose anything,” he said.
He expressed frustration over repeated non-compliance, noting that more than 100 vehicles had previously been impounded and their drivers released only after signing undertakings, yet many operators returned to illegal loading spots regardless.
Elechi said the secretariat’s authority is anchored on Order 1, established under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, and the Transportation Regulations of 2023, which empower it to license operators, seal unauthorised private premises used as makeshift parks, and confiscate non-compliant vehicles.
“They sign an undertaking, and the next day they are back on the roads. It is a cat-and-mouse game, and we are tired of it. If you rent private premises or take over any small space and turn it into an illegal motor park, we will seal off the premises, impound your vehicles, and enforce the law to the letter. With full backing from the FCT Minister and the Presidency, we will maintain a zero-tolerance policy against illegal transport operations to restore order and safety to Abuja,” he said.
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Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2026/08/fcta-threatens-shutdown-orders-transport-operators-to-bus-terminals/
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