Senator Ireti Kingibe has accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, of making life difficult for residents of Abuja since assuming office.
Ireti said that Wike had failed to prioritise the needs of the majority of residents.
The senator stated this in an interview with Channels Television.
While acknowledging ongoing road construction projects, Kingibe argued that most residents do not benefit from the new infrastructure.
“Yes, he’s building roads, but we don’t have public transport. So the bulk of Abuja residents do not benefit from the roads,” she said.
Kingibe also questioned the relevance of some of Wike’s development priorities, such as the International Conference Centre (ICC), amid rising insecurity in the territory and reports of unpaid salaries among workers at the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).
“The women who were sweeping the streets, they have done so through several ministers. Their situation was always protected because they were indigent women, widows.
“It was our way of ensuring that they got… so whenever any minister comes along and wants to replace them with street sweepers, the trucks, we talk to him and say, no, we need them to do this. He leaves it.
“The current minister came without consultation with anybody. He, in fact, not without consultation. In spite of imploration, he fired them all.
“He has not replaced them with anything. So we FCT has had a minister who most FCT residents will say, came to what made life as difficult as possible,” Kingibe said.
