Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has said anyone chosen by the president to serve cannot afford to give excuses for non-performance.
Wike said this on Wednesday while receiving a letter from LEADERSHIP for the Quinquennial Award for Outstanding Performance in Infrastructure and Governance.
The award, which will be conferred every five years, was instituted last year to mark LEADERSHIP’s 20th anniversary. Wike is the first recipient.
“Mr President has given us all the support to enable us to do our work,” he said. “For us, there are no excuses. We have to do our jobs.”
The Minister added that even though he had twice received awards from LEADERSHIP as governor of Rivers State, he considered this award special because of its unusual significance.
Wike said, “I want to assure you that we will not relent. Rather, this award will spur us to do more. God willing, by the time Mr President finishes his first tenure, everybody would have seen that he came prepared and meant well for this country.”
A LEADERSHIP team led by the Chairman, Zainab Nda-Isaiah, delivered the letter to the minister in Abuja following a decision by the company’s nominating board on October 29, 2024.
Nda-Isaiah was accompanied by the Senior Vice Chairman/Editor-In-Chief, Azu Ishiekwene, and the Senior Director of Adverts, Fadilah Ismail.
The board, comprising senior editorial staff members and advisors, nominated Wike for his excellent credentials in infrastructure development, which earned him the name “Mr. Projects”.
In less than two years in office, the minister has changed the
infrastructural landscape of the Federal Capital, resurfacing bad roads and commissioning new ones in the six area councils covering over 75 km of roads by the end of 2024 and starting new ones this year.
The LEADERSHIP Conference and Awards will be held in Abuja on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who will be the special guest of honour, has also accepted the invitation to give the keynote address, “Challenges and Opportunities in Nigeria’s Fiscal Federalism.”
