Wike asks NASS to approve ₦17.1bn allocated to FCT in 2024 budget

Wike made the appeal when he appeared before the Joint Session of the Senate and House Committees on FCT, in Abuja on Friday.

He explained that ₦17.1 billion was allocated to the FCT Administration, adding that the amount was for the completion of abandoned projects and the implementation of critical projects.

He said ₦5 billion was allocated as a counterpart fund for the Greater Abuja Water Supply projects and ₦4.5 billion for the design and construction of the Nigeria Cultural Centre and Millennium Tower.

He also said that ₦3 billion was allocated for the rehabilitation of the Federal Secretariat, while ₦4 billion was allocated for the completion of the Vice President’s Residence.

The minister added that ₦609.7 million was for the settlement of residential and office accommodation for international organisations in the FCT.

“The money is just ₦17.1 billion, so what can I say other than to say, ‘please help us pass it’,” the minister said.

On the performance of the 2023 budget, Wike said that a total of ₦15.5 billion was appropriated for infrastructural development, adding, however, that only ₦8 billion was released representing 52 per cent.

Responding, the Chairman, of the Senate Committee on FCT, Ibrahim Bomai, acknowledged that all the projects were ongoing ones, adding that the funds would not be enough to complete the projects.

He pointed out that the FCT operates a dual budget – the national budget and the statutory budget – and expressed the hope that the statutory budget might be in the hundreds of billions.

He, therefore, appealed to the legislators to give no objection considering the meagre amount.

“If you have no objection, we will ask the minister to take a bow and go,” Bomai said.