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Nine Months Unpaid Arrears: Abuja’s Cleanliness at Risk as Waste Contractors Set to Suspend Cleaning

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By Joel Ajayi

The Association of FCT Solid Waste and Cleaning Contractors (AFSOWAC), which oversees city cleaning across the 44 lots of the Federal Capital City (FCC), has warned of an imminent suspension of services over the non-payment of nine months’ arrears.

In a letter jointly signed by the 22 AFSOWAC and released on Thursday in Abuja, Association announced its intention to halt city cleaning operations unless the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) clears the backlog of outstanding payments.

AFSOWAC comprises 22 contractors, including Cosmopolitan Cleaners Ltd., Laurmann and Company Ltd., Alba Nigeria Ltd., Environmental Expressions Ltd., Friends Development Company Ltd., Sams Engineering Services Ltd., Interproject Ltd., Inex Cleaners Ltd., Lynz Associates Ltd., Advantage Nigeria Ltd., Waste Point Ltd., Gemstein Nigeria Ltd., Health Information Network International Company Ltd., Polyglobal Ltd., Global Green Environmental Services Ltd., Primerose Enterprises Ltd., Anetor Industries Ltd., Negro International Ltd., Pinnacle Health Services Ltd., and Sole Scissors Ventures Ltd.

“For years, AFSOWAC has sustained Abuja’s reputation as one of Africa’s cleanest cities by deploying over 100 refuse compacting trucks, 60 tippers, and more than 3,000 workers,” the letter read. “Our members evacuate over 1,000 tonnes of waste daily while handling sweeping, vegetation control, silt removal, and other sanitation tasks that keep the city habitable.”

The association lamented that, despite its unwavering service delivery, payments for services rendered since January 2025 remain outstanding. Contractors, it noted, are still compelled to execute daily assignments from the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), often relying on loans and personal resources to keep operations running.

“This is no longer sustainable,” AFSOWAC stressed, pointing to visible waste build-up in parts of the city and growing complaints from residents. It also warned that Abuja’s international image as a clean and organized capital is now under threat.

AFSOWAC further highlighted the deteriorating condition of the Gosa dumpsite, which it described as lacking basic equipment and access roads, thereby undermining efficient waste management. The group also decried continued payments based on outdated rates that ignore the economic impact of fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate harmonization.

“The procurement process initiated in October 2024 must be urgently concluded so that payments reflect prevailing realities,” the contractors urged.

Declaring that it had reached a breaking point, AFSOWAC said it would suspend all city cleaning services effective September 25, 2025, unless the FCTA releases the nine months’ arrears.

“This decision is not taken lightly. It is born out of necessity — to safeguard our businesses, protect our workers, and preserve the health of Abuja residents,” the association emphasized.

AFSOWAC has also copied its letter to the National Security Adviser, the Director of the DSS (FCT Command), the Commissioner of Police (FCT Command), and the Director of AEPB.

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Tin City Warms Up for President Tinubu as North Central Embraces Renewed Hope

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By Sunday Dare

When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu berths on the plains and rolling hills that dominate the Jos landscape tomorrow, he will meet a people resourceful, friendly and resilient but weighed down by conflict, yet unbowed by adversity.

So, tommorrow, national attention turns to the Plateau- a locale laden with history and rich with potential. From the tin mines that gave the city of Jos its name, to the Irish potato, strawberry farms and beetroot plantations that dot its landscape, Jos remains a land of promise—truly the Home of Peace and Tourism.

Jos is also deeply woven into Nigeria’s political history. Plateau is home to towering figures such as Generals JD Gomwalk, Yakubu Gowon, John Shagaya, Joshua Dogoyaro, and Jerry Useni. Solomon Lar, Senator Ibrahim Mantu and numerous others also stand tall in the annals Plateau political history.

Jos was also the rallying ground of the famed Langtang Mafia—a group of influential military officers from Langtang in Plateau State who, at the height of their power, played a significant role in Nigeria’s political and military affairs.

The story of Jos is both exciting and excruciating. The city lost its innocence some two and a half decades ago, when the popular Terminus Market was reduced to rubble through acts of arson and looting.

Thus at the turn of the millennium by 2001, Jos—and by extension, Plateau—was thrown into a cycle of unending conflict. Ethnic tensions, clothed in religious garb, tore through the city and spread across the state, dragging Jos into an abyss of violence, almost of Kigali proportions. Peace gave way to war, and tourism jaunts became undertakings to the undertaker.

Yet Jos has never surrendered. Every time it is written off, it rises again—scarred, but resilient. With its multi-ethnic, multi-religious fabric, the Plateau continues to trudge on in pursuit of peace, development, and egalitarian ideals.

It was here, in Jos, that Nigeria’s democratic resurgence was birthed. The historic SDP convention, where late General Shehu Yar’Adua and Chief Moshood Abiola held sway, took place in this city. Jos gave political life to Abiola, our hero of democracy in 1992

Now, thirty three years later, another hero of democracy and of the June 12 struggle returns to the Plateau. President Tinubu’s return and visit to Plateau State is not just to honor the transition to glory of Nana Lydia Yilwatda, the mother of the APC National Chairman.

It is a visit that carries deeper meaning—one of empathy, solidarity, and renewed hope for a people who have endured decades of turmoil. It is a mission to preach peace, console the bereaved, bind wounds, and assure Plateau of its central place in the Nigerian project.

Mr President comes not just to mourn, but to reconnect. He comes to parley with the North Central, to commiserate with a people who have suffered, and to extend the hand of renewed hope. That Renewed Hope is laying a solid foundation as evidenced by Naira at N1,455 per dollar, rising Foreign Reserves at $43bn, Trade surplus heading for N25tr. Revenues up 411% and Inflation down to about 20 per cent. Over 600,000 students benefiting from NELFUND.

This visit is more than ceremonial. It is a journey into the very soul of a people who have known pain, yet remain resilient; a land scarred by conflict, yet still brimming with hope and promise. As the Tin City opens its arms, Jos will not just receive the President—it will receive a message of solidarity, healing, and renewal.

Tomorrow is about remembering the glorious past, confronting the present, and charting a path to a peaceful and prosperous Plateau within a united Nigeria. With President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Jos once again stands at the intersection of history and destiny.

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