President Tinubu says the FCT is changing for the better under Minister Wike, 50 years after Nigeria created the capital territory.
President Bola Tinubu declared Friday night that the Federal Capital Territory is changing for the better under FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, marking 50 years since Nigeria created the territory and bringing the total projects inaugurated this term to 31.
Tinubu made the declaration at a special thanksgiving dinner in Abuja to celebrate the successful inauguration of 31 projects across the FCT in 28 days. Senate President Godswill Akpabio represented the president at the event.
Speaking through Akpabio, Tinubu commended Wike and his team for their sacrifices in ensuring the nation’s capital works for every Nigerian. “Fifty years after Nigeria created the FCT, things changed, things have turned around, and things are getting better,” the president stated.
Tinubu also commended Wike for demonstrating that “leadership is not measured by how loudly one announces plans, but how clearly the people can see the results of the plans.
“He described the FCT as a city where unity resides and where the hope of every citizen finds a common address.
“Every new road here shortens somebody’s journey,” he said. “Every new bridge connects more than communities; it connects friendship, it connects love, it connects unity, and it also connects opportunities for Nigerians.”
Also present was former FCT minister and current special adviser to the president on general duties, Office of the Vice President, Aliyu Modibbo, who represented Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Modibbo named Wike among the FCT ministers who had performed well and expressed confidence that Wike would return as minister in Tinubu’s second term. “Four years is not enough to complete what you have started,” Modibbo told the gathering.
Wike, speaking in his own remarks, disclosed that when he assumed office as FCT minister in August 2023, he met depressed civil servants with little motivation to drive Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He and the minister of state for the FCT, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, he noted, turned that situation around by establishing the FCT Civil Service Commission.
According to the minister, the commission allows civil servants to rise to the positions of permanent secretary and head of the civil service, and Tinubu approved it specifically to motivate workers so they could give their best for FCT development.
Wike traced the growth in project delivery across Tinubu’s tenure: nine projects inaugurated in the first year, 19 in the second year, and 31 in the third. He attributed part of that progress to the removal of the FCT from the Treasury Single Account, which enabled the administration to access funds from commercial banks to execute projects.
“Comparatively, what Tinubu has done and will continue to do in the FCT is unprecedented,” Wike stated. “Most of the projects we completed were not initiated by the current administration, and 70 percent of them were abandoned projects.”
On the one shortfall, Wike confirmed that the Inner Southern Expressway, known as ISEX, remains the only project not yet completed.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, represented at the dinner by House Majority Leader Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, described Wike as the “best-performing minister of the FCT so far” and said the territory had undergone monumental and unprecedented transformation under his stewardship.
Julius Berger Managing Director Dr. Peer Lubasch, speaking on behalf of contractors, told guests that some contractors had witnessed more ribbon-cutting ceremonies in recent days than in previous years.
Lubasch commended Tinubu for his commitment to infrastructure, economic growth, and national development and applauded Wike for what he called vision, planning, and sustained investment transforming Abuja into Africa’s finest purpose-built capital.
“We are proud that we have been an integral part of Abuja’s story from its formative years to the present day,” Lubasch stated.
Wike also promised to continue working with contractors to give FCT residents the best, as gathered by Westtrybe. No figures were given at the dinner for total project expenditure or a completion timeline for ISEX.
