A serving Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory under the Labour Party, Ireti Kingibe, has stated that the performance of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has not impressed residents. Speaking on Arise News TV on Sunday, Kingibe noted that the infrastructural projects inaugurated by Wike so far do not benefit the masses. She accused the minister of neglecting critical socio-economic issues affecting the people of the FCT.
“The minister may be a great minister in a ministry that has no people. But the unique situation of the FCT minister is that apart from infrastructure and roads, he also has to consider the needs of the people in that community. That is the difference between him and the minister of works or any other ministry. The minister of FCT is almost acting as governor for the president. Just like people took me on when those roads were commissioned. They said, ‘Madam, you people are celebrating roads in Maitama and the Central District, where the bulk of people do not live. Show me the project where people live.’
She continued, “That is the difference. It’s just like a governor telling you he built some roads, so he doesn’t care what the needs of people are. They (FCT people) have needs. The people are not impressed. At the end of the day, they don’t have water. That fire that happened in Karu could have been prevented if there was water. Any fire tank needed to go all the way to Asokoro to get water, not to mention the fact that there was no access road into the market.”
In May, SaharaReporters reported that over 3,000 residents of Gurfata Ibwa Ward in Gwagwalada lacked access to proper healthcare. Monitng, a civic technology platform that provides citizens with information to track public projects, shared photographs of the community, noting that over 338 students were being denied education. Ilevbaoje Uadamen, the founder of Monitng, lamented the deplorable condition of the primary healthcare center and junior secondary school in the community and called on Wike and Kingibe to intervene in the Tatagyiya community.
SaharaReporters learned that the health facility had been sealed for close to five years, forcing residents to travel long distances for medical treatment. Monitng appealed to Wike and Kingibe, highlighting the dire state of the Primary Health Care Centre and Junior Secondary School in Gurfata Ibwa Ward, Gwagwalada, which affects over 3,000 residents and 338 students. They called for intervention to address these critical issues, emphasizing that project nominations should reflect the community’s needs rather than the representatives’ wishes.