Drama as Wike Mentions His Actual Haters in FCT Abuja
- FCT Minister Nyesom Wike revealed that his refusal to approve foreign conference trips has cost him goodwill among civil servants
- Wike said he rejected a N20 million request to fund a week-long trip to America for a land administration conference
- The minister disclosed that his administration now directs 70% of the FCT budget to capital projects, reversing a former recurrent-heavy structure
FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has said his stance against funding foreign trips and conferences with public money has left him deeply unpopular with civil servants, but he has no intention of reversing course.
Speaking at his monthly media briefing in Abuja on Thursday, July 9, Wike said the decision to redirect funds away from recurrent spending and towards physical infrastructure had drawn widespread criticism from within the civil service, which he described as an expected consequence he was willing to accept.
Source: Twitter
His statement reads in part:
"That's why I can't be popular among civil servants. If you ask anybody today, one minister they won't like is me. Why? That money for conferences, I put the money together for roads."
The FCT minister has been making headlines for weeklong project commissioning across Nigeria's capital. He has been a controversial minister considering his membership in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and working under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Wike Rejects N20m Conference Request
The minister cited a specific example to illustrate his position, saying he turned down a proposal seeking N20 million to send officials to a week-long land administration conference in the United States. He added that officials could instead travel to Lagos or Port Harcourt to observe how land systems functioned in those cities.
Wike argued that conferences of this nature had, over the years, served as conduits for misappropriating public funds rather than genuine knowledge-sharing exercises.
FCT Budget Now 70% Capital, 30% Recurrent
Wike further said that the broader shift in spending priorities began when he took office and identified what he described as an unhealthy budget structure that had historically allocated roughly 65 per cent of FCT funds to recurrent expenditure, leaving little for development projects.
Under his administration, he said, that ratio has been inverted, with approximately 70 per cent now directed at capital projects including road construction and public infrastructure. In comparison, recurrent costs account for the remaining 30 per cent.
He maintained that governments that allow overhead costs to dominate public budgets cannot deliver meaningful development to their residents, and that visible infrastructure represents a more defensible use of taxpayers' money than recurring conference circuits.
Source: Twitter
Wike praises Nigerian contractors
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister, has got Nigerians talking after explaining his scepticism about awarding projects to Nigerian contractors.
Wike, in a trending video, said his experience as a local government chairman and governor of Rivers has taught him the headaches of dealing with local contractors.
The FCT minister made the claim while commending one of the local contractors who has successfully completed a road in Abuja during commissioning.
Source: Legit.ng
