Revealed: How Abuja street names are allegedly sold for up to N35m

FCT gate

A Vanguard investigation has uncovered an alleged multi-million-naira payment scheme within the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC)’s street-naming and house-numbering process, in which applicants were reportedly asked to pay large sums into private bank accounts instead of authorised government revenue accounts, despite the honour being officially presented as free. The probe began after AMAC sent letters to Vanguard’s Editor-in-Chief, Eze Anaba, and Chairman/Publisher, Sam Amuka-Pemu, informing them of their “unanimous” selection for streets to be named after them within Abuja Municipality. The letters, dated November 13, 2025, and signed by Peter Ijwo, Director of Operations, and Gwebe Amos, Director of Administration, stated that the nominations were based purely on merit “in recognition of outstanding contributions and commitment to society and the national economy.”

However, subsequent engagements with officials of the Street Naming and House Numbering Unit, particularly Jeffrey Iorshe, allegedly revealed that nominees were required to make substantial payments to “process” the honour.According to Vanguard’s findings, the requested sums allegedly ranged from about N5 million in Nyanya, roughly N 11 million in Lokogoma, and between N25 million and N35 million in the Central Business District (CBD).

An initial “processing” payment of N500,000 per nominee and a baseline package of N5.5 million were also allegedly demanded.

No official guidelines

Despite quoting figures, the official reportedly declined to provide any written fee schedule or approved documentation, leaving the process without publicly available guidelines or transparency.

“I can’t tell you the prices,” Iorshe initially said when asked to provide official rates.

The investigation found no official pricing templates or verifiable policy documents governing the alleged fees. Vanguard