The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has vowed to tackle illegality as he defended the FCT’s N61 billion supplementary budget before the National Assembly Committees on the FCT.
The minister expressed concern over the territory’s over 800 litigation pieces, some of which he claimed were in connivance with staff of the FCT.
Wike stated, “I have never seen a territory with over 800 litigation pieces. Some of these court cases were in connivance with staff of the FCT.”
He further added that he would engage Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to prevent situations where judgments are entered against the FCT.
The minister also highlighted that the budget components were project-specific and that Bola Tinubu would inaugurate most of them, including the Abuja Metro Line, by May as part of activities marking his one year in office.
On the issue of security, Wike revealed plans to revive the city’s mass transit system to eliminate cases of “one chance.”
He added that private operators would undergo security vetting before being allowed into the system.
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Wike also mentioned working with the Office of the National Security Adviser and the State Security Services (SSS) to provide closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in strategic parts of the city.
Addressing the issue of demolition exercises, Wike stated, “We can’t stop demolition. You cannot go and build in a green area, and then when we demolish, you want us to compensate you. Illegality is illegality. But if we want to acquire your property for development, we will pay you.”
The minister also vowed to cancel some public-private partnership arrangements entered into by the FCT Administration with some private developers, stating that those arrangements had been used to fleece the administration of billions in the past.