‘4 years not enough for him to finish Abuja work’: Tinubu, Shettima praise Wike

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By Omeiza Ajayi, ABUJA

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President Bola Tinubu has declared that 50 years after creation, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, is witnessing visible transformation, while his vice, Kashim Shettima, said the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, needs more than four years to finish his work.

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They spoke in Abuja on Friday at a dinner organised to celebrate the inauguration of 31 projects across the territory within a 28-day window.

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The event drew top government functionaries and private sector players.

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Represented by Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu expressed gratitude to Wike and his team for the sacrifices made to keep the nation’s capital functional for all Nigerians.

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He praised the minister for showing that “leadership is not measured by how loudly one announces plans, but how clearly the people can see the results of the plans.”

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For the President, the territory is a shared inheritance, one he described as a city where unity resides, where diversity meets, and where the hope of every citizen finds a common address.

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He tied every physical structure completed to a larger social value, noting: “Every new road done here shortens somebody’s journey, every new bridge connects more than communities; it connects friendship, it connects love, it connects unity, and also connects opportunities for Nigerians.

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“Every completed project quietly tells Nigerians that the government can still work when vision meets determination.”

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Vice President

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Representing Vice President Kashim Shettima, Aliyu Modibbo, a former FCT minister who now serves as Special Adviser to the President on General Duties, ranked Wike among the territory’s standout ministers and predicted he would retain the position in Tinubu’s second term.

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Making the case for more time in office, Modibbo said: “Four years is not enough to complete what you have started.”

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Wike…

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Wike, in his own remarks, took the audience back to August 2023, when he took over an FCT workforce he described as demoralised and disengaged from Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

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Working alongside the FCT Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, he said the administration reversed that trend by setting up the FCT Civil Service Commission, opening a path for civil servants to rise to Permanent Secretary and Head of Civil Service positions — a move he credited to presidential approval aimed at boosting staff morale.

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That renewed motivation, he said, translated directly into output: nine projects delivered in Tinubu’s first year, 19 in the second, and 31 in the third. He linked part of this acceleration to the FCT’s exit from the Treasury Single Account TSA, which gave the administration access to commercial bank financing for project execution.

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He also praised contractors for delivering quality work on schedule and pledged continued collaboration with them.

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Putting the achievement in context, Wike said: “Comparatively, what Tinubu has done and will continue to do in the FCT is unprecedented. Most of the projects we completed were not initiated by the current administration and 70 per cent of them were abandoned projects. The only project that was not completed is the Inner Southern Expressway OSEX.”

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He assured Tinubu of solid backing from Rivers State, warning that his Rainbow Coalition would overwhelm any opposition there.

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Speaker

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House of Representatives Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, represented by Majority Leader, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, called Wike the “best performing minister of the FCT” and credited him with driving a monumental and unprecedented transformation of the capital’s landscape.

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Speaking on behalf of contractors, Managing Director of Julius Berger, Dr Peer Lubasch noting that some firms have handled more ribbon-cutting ceremonies in recent days than in previous years combined.

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He commended Tinubu’s commitment to infrastructure and national development and credited Wike’s vision and sustained investment with reshaping Abuja into what he called Africa’s finest, purpose-built capital.

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“Without any sense of immodesty, we are proud that we have been an integral part of Abuja’s story from its formative years to the present day,” Lubasch said.

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