Cabul Network, a developmental group, has urged the National Assembly to grant the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) the status of a state governor.
The Spokesman of the group and a former Commissioner for the Environment in Akwa Ibom State, Dr. John Harry, made the call at a news conference in Abuja.
It would be recalled that the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on FCT, had demanded for such status.
Wike, while defending a N1.1 trillion 2024 budget proposal, asked the lawmakers to grant him the power to spend funds under the “security vote” scheme.
According to Harry, “I totally agree with Wike over the request to have the privilege of what the governors have in their states to spend security votes.
“Now, let us refer to the last general elections and the submission that came out of the Supreme Court. What we found out was that Abuja has the status of a state.
“So, if he is asking for the privileges that the governors have in the state, it is not misplaced but rather the right path to follow, so we fully support his request to be able to achieve this,” he said.
Harry commended the FCT minister for his sectoral, infrastructural, and developmental reforms in the FCT, adding that they had been following the minister with keen interest and as a developmental group.
He said, “The minister should be commended; for the first time in the administration of the FCT, he has brought back an effective administration structure for the FCT.
“Now we have permanent secretaries who are overseeing the sectors in the FCT, and we also have the mandate secretary and the head of service for the FCT.”
He said this demonstrated his desire to effectively run a transparent government.
According to him, “we cannot just oppose the government but must also commend it when necessary. There comes a time when we have to synergise as a development group to support the government.”
He said the minister had shown focus in leadership, “and we have seen significant improvements in the FCT infrastructure, his sectoral reforms, and the improvement in the school infrastructure.
“Wike has been building structures that will endure in the FCT, so when people talk about removing him, I think it is highly political.
“We don’t want to deal with political issues; we want to deal with developmental issues. There have been indications in the last few days that he is a very focused leader and has resilience.”
Harry commended President Bola Tinubu’s decision to appoint Wike as the Minister of the FCT, adding that Wike had shown leadership because it takes a strong will to deliver on governance.
“What we are seeing today in FCT is overwhelming, and we want to encourage him to keep this path. If we follow this path, I believe victory is for the APC in FCT and Nigeria.
“For us in this group, he has our support; we are seeing development, and I believe that if he continues on this path in the next four years, victory will be overwhelming for the present government.”
He urged the Minister not to be deterred in his quest to restore the Abuja master plan, adding that development has a purpose and FCT has master plans that must be restored barring all hitches.
He said that over the years, there has been a distortion in the Abuja master plan, and when you see a minister willing to execute the original design, no one should call for his removal.
