By Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja
Newly sworn in Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Nyesom Wike, on Monday, declared that Abuja had turned to a slum city, vowing to bring back the capital city to “where it ought to be”.
Wike, the former governor of Rivers State, made the point during his maiden conference, adding that he had not come to Abuja to fly any party’s flag.
Wike, the former governor of Rivers State, made the point during his maiden conference, adding that he had not come to Abuja to fly any party’s flag.
Being a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, he was asked whether he would fly the national flag and that of his party or that of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
His response: “Why should anyone be bothered about what party flag I will be flying? Okay, bring PDP flag, I will fly it, bring Labour Party, LP, flag, I will fly it.
“The FCT is in this state and you think the people are bothered about the party flag I fly? I will fly the Nigerian flag and ensure the FCT returns to the dreams of the founding fathers.
“We will bring FCT back to where it ought to be. So many people have complained that this is not the FCT of the founding fathers. We must tackle issue of security. FCT should be where people come for holidays.
“Abuja has turned to a slum city. Sanitation is bad with refuse everywhere. We cannot allow that. We will look at issues of waste disposals.
“If you build on a green area, sorry, it will go down. Those who were allocated land and refused to develop them, we will revoke such lands and re-allocate them to those who are ready to develop them.
“Those who don’t pay ground rent, we will not notify them to do so, but I will not be tired of signing revocation notices.
“Uncompleted buildings that have become a safe haven for criminals will be reclaimed by the government and put them to good use.
“Land racketeering days are over. Those who refuse to develop turning to land speculators will lose their lands.
“All these are our short term deliverables so as to bring back people’s confidence in government.”
Source: Vanguard
