Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike has told FCT Senator Ireti Kingibe that she will not return to the National Assembly in 2027, describing her as “illiterate” and insisting that all loans obtained by the FCT Administration followed due process and received the necessary approval of the National Assembly.
Wike made the remarks on Tuesday while responding to questions from journalists during an inspection of ongoing road projects in the FCT. He was reacting to allegations by Kingibe that the administration had taken loans without the approval of the National Assembly.
“She is an illiterate, with all due respect, and that is why she is not going back to the Senate. She has nothing to offer to the people of the FCT. There is no way you can go and take a loan without the approval of the National Assembly. Anyone [who] takes a loan, you will include it in the budget that this aspect of this budget, the government is going to collect [a] loan,” Wike said.
The minister said he did not want to give further attention to Kingibe’s comments, arguing that voters in the FCT had already decided to support President Bola Tinubu and his preferred candidate for the FCT senatorial seat, Philip Aduda.
“I don’t want to comment about her. When the time is right, let her pack her bags out. The people have made their choice by agreeing to support President Tinubu, and then will support Philip Aduda for Senate. So, let us not waste our time reacting to inferiors who failed in all ramifications. I don’t want to react to it, I am above that,” he said.
Wike argued that the more important question was whether the loans were being used to fund development projects, rather than whether the FCT had borrowed money.
“I thought she would criticise that I am doing nothing. So if her problem is that I took a loan, if I took a loan, I am using it to work. I thought her concern would have been: are we applying the loan to work for the interest of residents? She believes that we can’t run infrastructure without loans, and that we must have taken a loan, that is her problem,” he said.
The minister also dismissed the timing of Kingibe’s criticism as politically motivated, linking it to the recent lifting of the ban on campaigns for the presidential and National Assembly elections.
He pointed to the ongoing inspection of road projects across the territory as evidence of the administration’s activities ahead of the polls.
“When is the time to campaign? Look at what we are doing. That is the campaign. The ban on campaign has been lifted for the President and National Assembly, am I not right? As I finish now, then she know what we are doing, and they are seeing every road, and tell everyone that this is what President Tinubu is doing. Who will see what Mr President is doing and will say that he will vote for another person? That is not correct. So, I am doing my job. While we are doing an inspection of the project, we are also doing a campaign,” he said.
On the projects inspected, Wike said he was impressed with the progress recorded across the sites, including the N1 road and sections stretching from Tunga Madaki to Zuba and Kagini.
He said the projects, once completed, would have a direct economic impact on residents of the affected rural communities, adding that improving the welfare of residents remained the essence of governance.
