Tinubu Freed FCT From Financial, Administrative Constraints – Wike

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has credited President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with freeing the FCT Administration (FCTA) from long-standing financial and administrative constraints.

He said the reforms have laid the foundation for the unprecedented infrastructure development currently transforming Abuja.

Wike spoke at a dinner to mark the conclusion of the FCTA’s 31-day marathon commissioning and flagging off of projects across the nation’s capital.

The minister said President Tinubu’s decisive interventions, including the removal of the FCTA from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the approval of the implementation of the 2018 FCT Civil Service Commission Law, had unlocked the administration’s capacity to deliver critical infrastructure and improve public service.

According to him, the FCTA’s inclusion in the TSA had severely restricted its ability to finance development projects.

Describing the arrangement as “the worst thing any administration could do,” Wike said the President acted swiftly after assuming office by directing the FCT to exit the TSA, thereby enabling the administration to leverage its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to secure funding from commercial banks.

“There is no government anywhere in the world that can achieve massive infrastructural development without leveraging financial instruments,” Wike said.

He explained that commercial banks are now willing to finance FCTA projects because the loans are backed by a structured repayment mechanism tied to the territory’s strong IGR, a development he said has accelerated the delivery of roads, flyovers, water infrastructure and other major projects across the capital city.

On civil service reforms, Wike said President Tinubu also approved the implementation of the 2018 FCT Civil Service Commission Law, ending years of stagnation in the FCT civil service.

He explained that before the reform, career civil servants in the FCTA could not rise beyond the rank of director, while permanent secretaries were deployed from the federal civil service.

According to him, he approached the President to implement the law, which had been passed by the National Assembly and assented to by then Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

“It didn’t take Mr President two hours to sign it. He declared that the FCT must have its own Civil Service Commission, and it was done, even though some people at the federal level opposed it,” Wike said.

He noted that the reform has led to the appointment of permanent secretaries from within the FCT civil service and the creation of an independent Head of Service for the FCTA, thereby opening career progression opportunities for staff.

The minister added that the administration has also ensured national inclusiveness by appointing permanent secretaries representing all six geopolitical zones of the country.

Wike defended his administration’s governance style, saying running government with a business-minded approach had significantly improved project delivery in the FCT.

He noted that while the administration commissioned only 7 projects in its first year in office, the latest exercise lasted 31 consecutive days due to the volume of completed projects.

The minister also challenged critics to identify any abandoned infrastructure project under the current administration, revealing that about 70 per cent of the projects completed by the FCTA were inherited from previous governments.

He said President Tinubu had consistently maintained that projects initiated with public funds should not be abandoned simply because previous administrations started them.

“President Tinubu believes that we cannot abandon projects because another administration initiated them. These projects belong to Nigerians because they were funded with public resources,” Wike said.

Among the inherited projects completed by the current administration include the Julius Berger road contracts for B6 and B12, originally awarded in 2009, as well as the Inner Southern Expressway (ISEX) project awarded in 2014.