The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) allegedly asked applicants to pay huge sums into private bank accounts instead of authorised government revenue accounts during the street-naming and house-numbering process, an honor that is officially presented as free. An investigation has uncovered this alleged multi-million-naira payment scheme.
According to Vanguard, the investigation started after AMAC informed our Editor-in-Chief, Eze Anaba, and Chairman/Publisher, Sam Amuka-Pemu, in letters that they had “unanimously” decided to have streets named after them within Abuja Municipality.
In their letters dated November 13, 2025, written by Gwebe Amos, Director of Administration, and Peter Ijwo, Director of Operations, the nominees were lauded for their “outstanding contributions and commitment to society and the national economy.”
Nevertheless, it was later discovered through interactions with individuals from the Street Naming and House Numbering Unit, specifically Jeffrey Iorshe, that nominees were allegedly compelled to pay hefty sums in order to “process” the honor.
The amounts purportedly asked varied from approximately N5 million in Nyanya to about N 11 million in Lokogoma, and from N25 million to N35 million in the Central Business District (CBD), as per the findings of our correspondent.
Suspects claim that in addition to the N5.5 million base package, an initial “processing” payment of N500,000 per nominee was also sought.
There are no set regulations
There are no publicly available guidelines or openness in the process because the official allegedly refused to give a formal price schedule or approved documentation, even if they quoted figures.
When first asked about official rates, Iorshe first answered, “I can’t tell you the prices.”
The inquiry could not uncover any formal policy documents or pricing templates that could be verified to control the claimed fees.
Funds transferred to individual bank accounts
The details of a private bank account associated with Bestemart Integrated Ventures, which was supposedly shared with our correspondent at a later point, were said to be those of AMAC’s “technical partners.”
Reportedly, Iorshe justified the arrangement by saying it had been “approved” internally because of the delays connected with government accounts, when our Accounts Department refused to pay into a private account that did not bear AMAC’s name.
He reportedly said, “If we use the AMAC account, the project won’t materialise,” and went on to explain that using official government income accounts might impact access to ideal street sites.
The process came to a standstill because our correspondent was adamant about funding statutory government accounts.
Issues regarding openness
Street and house numbering are important public services, but experts in urban planning and governance say that any system that doesn’t include clear instructions, official records, and a way for people to pay is prone to abuse.
Many of the Abuja citizens we spoke with were worried that the city’s already low level of public trust in its leadership would be further eroded by such secretive policies.
No formal reaction to the investigation’s claims has been made by AMAC as of this writing.
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