Since assuming office on August 21, 2023, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has implemented short, medium, and long-term plans aimed at restoring the Abuja Master Plan, decongesting the city, and enhancing rural economies through infrastructure development.
He also promised to improve security, education, healthcare, and revenue generation.
An assessment of his performance in view of the Bola Tinubu administration’s midterm in office shows achievements in infrastructure and security.
However, challenges remain in the education and healthcare sectors.
In this report, NewsNGR evaluates the minister’s performance vis-à-vis his promise to transform the FCT.
Without doubt, Wike has excelled in the area of infrastructure. As FCT minister, he has completed some abandoned projects and initiated new ones. These projects span the city centre and satellite towns.
Within months of resuming office, he rehabilitated and resurfaced 135 roads in Wuse, Garki, Gwarimpa, and Maitama Districts.
He also completed the Abuja Rail Mass Transit system, which was commissioned by President Tinubu on May 29, 2024. Other projects completed include the Inner Southern Expressway from the Outer Southern Expressway to the Southern Parkway, full scope development of about 6.7km of 10 lanes Outer Southern Expressway from Villa Roundabout to Ring Road 1 Junction, and construction of Southern Parkway from the Christian Centre to Ring Road 1.
Wike also completed the B6 (Constitution Avenue)/B12 (Independence Avenue) roads in Central Area, and the Wuye interchange bridge, Arterial Road, N-20, from Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Expressway to Murtala Mohammed Expressway, named after Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, and rehabilitation of the 18-kilometre Nyanya, Karu, Orozo road.
Another milestone of the Wike-led FCTA was the completion of engineering infrastructure in Guzape District Lot II, and the resurfacing of 189 roads covering 57 km within Abuja city centre, among others.
Wike also completed the Vice-Presidential lodge despite public outrage over the N22 billion construction cost.
In his second year as Minister, Wike has focused on more infrastructural projects, they include; the 16-kilometre inner northern expressway, stretching from Idu to Dei Dei and the CN8 road from N5 (Obafemi Awolowo Way) to the Court of Appeal; the N20 flyover on the Onnex-Kubwa Road, which will be commissioned by the president as part of activities to mark his second year in office.
Other completed projects that will be commissioned are; the newly renovated Abuja International Conference Centre (AICC), bus terminals in Kugbo and Mabushi, and the Apo-Wassa Road, the N16 interchange and connecting roads from Maitama through Katampe to Jahi; and the stretch from Life Camp Junction to Ring Road III, the Kabusa-Takushara and Kabusa-Ketti access roads, an access road in Giri District, a 15km road from A2 Junction on the Abuja-Lokoja Road to Pai in Kwali Area Council, as well as roads in Ushafa, War College, and the Army Checkpoint area in Bwari Area Council.
Furthermore, the minister has completed the extension of Inner Southern Expressway (ISEX) from Southern Parkway (S8/S9) to Ring Road II, and full scope development of FCT Highway 105 (Kuje Road) from Airport Expressway to Outer Southern Expressway OSEX with Spur at Kyami District.
The minister has also resurfaced and provided streetlights in the Dutse-Ushafa road, Kuje township road, Herbert Macaulay Way, Muhammadu Buhari Way, Jabi, the Aminu Kano Crescent, Gwarinpa road, the Ahmadu Bello Way, the entire areas of Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse, Central Business District (CBD), the Airport road, down to Bill Clinton Drive.
When Wike assumed office as FCT Minister, the capital city was experiencing a series of security problems. Kidnapping for ransom, one-chance robberies and vandalism of public infrastructure were widespread.
To tackle this, Wike distributed 50 operational vehicles to various security agencies in Abuja. He has also commenced the construction of 12 Divisional Police Stations and staff quarters, two in each of the six area councils of the FCT.
The minister has also extended logistics and operational support to organised vigilante and hunters’ groups within Abuja and its environs, declaring that any government that cannot secure lives and property has no business in governance. These moves have significantly improved security in the FCT.
Security data obtained by NewsNGR from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) showed a significant drop in kidnappings, armed clashes and fatality counts in the FCT since Wike became FCT minister in August 2023.
In March 2024, Wike asked the Senate to approve a security vote for the FCTA, arguing that the controversial and opaque security vote system was necessary to ensure that security agencies eliminate threats without going through the rigours of official bureaucracy capable of delaying action and revealing sensitive security information.
However, the proposal was not considered by the lawmakers.
While Wike has made some progress with the security situation in the FCT, there is a need for more investments in logistics, surveillance and technology to make the FCT safe.
As promised, the FCTA under Wike has increased IGR.
The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) generated over N252.8bn in revenue during the 2024 fiscal year, which represents a 19.8 per cent increase from the N211.1bn recorded in 2023. This represents 101 per cent of the agency’s target of N250.2bn for the year.
During a media chat earlier this month, the minister announced that his revenue drive has shot up the monthly earnings of the nation’s capital from about N9bn when he assumed office in August 2023 to an average of N30bn monthly.
The growth in revenue can be attributed to the collection of ground rents and payment of Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) by land allottees.
The minister said the nation’s capital has the potential to generate up to ₦300bn monthly revenue if land allottees fulfill their obligations.
One of the major wins of the Wike administration is the exclusion of the FCTA from the Treasury Single Account effectively paving way for him to utilize the IGR for the development of Abuja.
Wike, who argued that the FCTA is not a revenue-collecting agency for the federal government, got President Tinubu’s approval to pull the FCT out of the CBN-domiciled TSA.
The move empowered Wike to embark on projects and disburse monies without bottlenecks.
The Minister also implemented the bill for the establishment of a Civil Service Commission for the FCT by establishing the FCT Civil Service Commission.
The establishment of the commission ensured career progression for civil servants in the FCT Administration.
He said that the civil servants in the FCTA had lost hope because Directors in the Administration could not get to the apex of their careers because there was no CSC.
He added that the law for the creation of the commission had been signed, but nobody wanted to implement it for different reasons.
Similarly, Wike also created the FCTA’s first women’s affairs secretariat.
The secretariat, headed by Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, was given the mandate of ensuring the involvement of women in the programmes of the administration.
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