Group wants National Assembly to elevate Wike to status of a governor

The National Assembly has been called upon to elevate the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, to the status of a Governor.

Cabul Network, a developmental group, which is behind the call argued that it was in tandem with the recent pronouncement of the Supreme Court.

Led by Dr John Harry, a former commissioner for the environment in Akwa Ibom State, the network at a news conference in Abuja argued that granting the FCT Minister the full powers of a Governor would not only expedite the infrastructural development, but would enhance the security of lives and properties of the citizenry in the FCT.

The Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on FCT to defend his N1.1 trillion 2024 budgetary proposal had demanded for such status as it would enable him spend funds under the “security vote” scheme.

The group commended the minister for his sectoral, infrastructural, and developmental reforms in the FCT, adding that they had been following him with keen interest.

The group urged the Minister not to be deterred in his quest to restore the Abuja master plan, adding that development has a purpose and FCT has master plans that must be restored barring all hitches.

It noted that over the years, there has been a distortion in the Abuja master plan, and when you see a minister willing to execute the original design, no one should call for his removal.

According to the group, “We totally agree with Wike over the request to have the privilege of what the governors have in their states to spend security votes.

“Now, let us refer to the last general elections and the submission that came out of the Supreme Court. What we found out was that Abuja has the status of a state.

“So, if he is asking for the privileges that the governors have in the state, it is not misplaced but rather the right path to follow, so we fully support his request to be able to achieve this.

“The minister should be commended; for the first time in the administration of the FCT, he has brought back an effective administration structure for the FCT.

“Now we have permanent secretaries who are overseeing the sectors in the FCT, and we also have the mandate secretary and the head of service for the FCT.”

He said this demonstrated his desire to effectively run a transparent government.

“Wike has been building structures that will endure in the FCT, so when people talk about removing him, I think it is highly political.

“We don’t want to deal with political issues; we want to deal with developmental issues. There have been indications in the last few days that he is a very focused leader and has resilience.

The group thereby commended President Bola Tinubu’s decision to appoint Wike as the Minister of the FCT, adding that Wike had shown leadership because it takes a strong will to deliver on governance.

“What we are seeing today in FCT is overwhelming, and we want to encourage him to keep this path. If we follow this path, I believe victory is for the APC in FCT and Nigeria.

“For us in this group, he has our support; we are seeing development, and I believe that if he continues on this path in the next four years, victory will be overwhelming for the present government.”