MPs who represented the Federal Capital Region (FCT), Senator Ireti Kingibe, had reviled the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, by saying he had made life more difficult for FCT residents even though all the projects he had assigned.
Kingibe, who made accusations when speaking on a television channel political program on Tuesday, described Wike as a man with the mentality of the emperor who was insensitive to the fate of people in the country’s capital.
Senator accused the former governor of the river state of having a staff salary and not carrying it together in the preparation of the budget for the city.
He also accused that Wike had failed to prioritize the needs of the majority of the population, but was somewhat concentrated on carrying out projects that had no impact on the lives of ordinary people.
Although he acknowledged the ongoing road construction project, Senator Kingibe argued that most of the population did not benefit from new infrastructure.
“Yes, he is building a road, but we do not have public transportation. So most of the Abuja population does not benefit from the road,” he said.
He also questioned the relevance of several ministerial development priorities such as the International Conference Center (ICC), in the midst of increasing insecurity in the region and unpaid salary reports among workers in the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).
“The women who sweep the streets, they have done it through several ministers. Their situation is always protected because they are poor women, widows,” he said.
“That is the way we ensure that they get their wages, so every time a minister comes and wants to replace it with street sweepers, trucks, we talk to him and say, no, we need them to do this. He leaves him.
“The minister is currently coming without consulting with anyone. Apart from our procession, he fired them all.
“He has not replaced them with anything. So we have a minister who will be said by most of the FCT residents, coming to make life as difficult as possible.
“In the last few months, I thought of it and said in the end, all I wanted was my people to benefit. If lack of antagonists to the Minister will help bring development to people, then okay.
“So, I decided that regardless of the things I didn’t like what he did, I would minimize my public criticism of him, but that did not make a difference because he had the emperor’s mentality,” Kingibe added.