Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has rejected allegations that the FCT Administration secured loans for Abuja projects without the approval of the National Assembly.
Wike spoke on Tuesday after inspecting ongoing projects in the nation’s capital.
This follows an earlier claim by Senator Ireti Kingibe that the FCT had accumulated borrowings without the required legislative approval.
Kingibe had said she raised the matter with Senate leadership after reviewing Debt Management Office records covering borrowings between August 2023 and March 2026.
The minister argued that government borrowing could not simply be undertaken outside the established budgetary and legislative process.
According to Wike, funds required for projects, including loans, would be reflected in the FCT budget and subjected to the relevant approval process.
“That’s why she (Kingibe) is not going back to the Senate. Does non-lawyers know where we can go and take a loan without the approval of the National Assembly?” Wike said.
He maintained that the financing of FCT projects was tied to the territory’s approved budget, questioning how any government official could obtain a loan for such projects without legislative involvement.
The minister also dismissed Kingibe’s political relevance, claiming that residents of the FCT had already made their choice of political leadership.
Wike said he was more concerned with the infrastructure projects being executed across Abuja than with the senator’s criticisms.
He suggested that Kingibe’s position had shifted from accusing the FCT Administration of failing to deliver projects to questioning how the government was financing the infrastructure currently under construction.
“I thought she criticised that I’m doing nothing. So now her problem is that I took a loan,” Wike said.
He argued that even if borrowing had been undertaken, the more important question should be whether the funds were being applied to projects that benefit residents of the capital.
