The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, says the newly refurbished International Conference Centre in Abuja has already generated over ₦700 million in just three weeks.
Wike made the statement during a thanksgiving service in Abuja on Sunday, where he highlighted the changes brought by the Bola Tinubu administration in the FCT. He said the ICC, now renamed the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, used to bring in only ₦50 million per year before it was taken over and renovated.
“The Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, you know, there were people who were running it. They were paying the government ₦50 million every year,” Wike said. “But in the three weeks that we just renovated it, we have made over ₦700 million.”
He added that the ₦39 billion spent on the renovation has already started yielding returns and criticised those who managed the centre before now, saying they underperformed and shortchanged the government.
According to Wike, the man previously in charge of the ICC was from Adamawa State. “These are people who want to rescue Nigeria,” he said sarcastically, referring to opposition politicians.
Wike also defended the decision to name the ICC after President Tinubu. He dismissed critics who claimed the name should have gone to the original builder. He said other national landmarks, like Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and Moshood Abiola Stadium, were not built by the people they were named after.
At the same event, he said projects in the FCT are now more visible and moving faster because Tinubu allowed the FCT administration to exit the Treasury Single Account. This, according to him, made it easier to access loans and fund infrastructure.
“Before now, it was difficult for the FCT to access funds,” he said. “But Mr President, in his wisdom, believed that we should pull out from the Single Treasury Account.”
Wike said critics who failed to deliver when they had power were now trying to blame Tinubu’s government. “People had the opportunity to be in government for several years — eight years, 20 years. They didn’t do anything. That time, Nigerians were not angry. It’s only now that they are not in office that Nigerians are angry,” he added.
