The Transportation Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has halted the enforcement of the Drivers and Riders Permit Levy.

According to the report, the development is pending a comprehensive engagement with important stakeholders.

The Mandate Secretary, Dr Chinedum Elechi, gave this directive in a letter addressed to the Managing Director of First Capital Cargo Ltd, the company contracted to collect the levy.

The decision, according to the letter obtained in Abuja on Monday, followed the meeting held with the leaders of the dispatch riders on Thursday, February 19.

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“Following the meeting with the leaders of the Association of Dispatch Riders in the FCT, and the concerns of multiple taxation by various authorities raised during the meeting, you are by this letter directed to suspend the enforcement of the collection of the Drivers and Riders Permit Levy, pending further engagement with all relevant stakeholders.

“Please ensure this directive is accorded the needed attention and compliance,” the mandate secretary said.

New Telegraph reports that the dispatch riders had on Feb. 19, who stormed the FCT Administration Secretariat, Abuja, on Feb. 19, protested what they described as “multiple taxation.”

The riders, who came out in their thousands, appealed to the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to intervene and stop the extortion.

The riders claimed that they have been paying N13,000 annual levy to Abuja Municipal Area Council, Bwari and Gwagwalada area councils, in addition to the newly introduced N25,000 permit levy by the FCT Transportation Secretariat.

This, according to them, is in addition to the N300 ticket they pay each time they enter a market in Abuja, amounting to multiple taxation.