Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has urged the federal government to convert the abandoned official residence of Vice President Kashim Shettima into a general hospital for low-income and vulnerable residents of Abuja.

HURIWA made the call yesterday in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, arguing that the continued non-usage of the residence nearly two years after its commissioning had reinforced the body’s earlier concerns over the project and the public funds committed to it.

In another development, the National Institute for Sports (NIS) yesterday raised concerns over the ownership of a 200-bed hostel located opposite the Athletes Development Centre on Package B of the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

The institute also advised the National Sports Commission (NSC) to stay clear of its facilities within the stadium, insisting that the disputed hostel is an NIS property.

Meanwhile, HURIWA recalled opposing the decision to spend billions of naira on the residence while millions of Nigerians faced poverty, unemployment, insecurity and worsening living conditions, besides the impact of petrol subsidy removal and the floating of the naira.

Stating that the project was originally awarded in 2010 at about N7 billion, HURIWA recalled that the Federal Capital Territory Administration later revived the project at the cost of about N21 billion, with approximately N22 billion in public funds reportedly committed to the project and associated works.

However, with Shettima having continued to use the Akinola Aguda House as his official residence, HURIWA said the situation raises questions about the billions spent on the facility and why it has not served its original purpose.

Speaking in Abuja during a tour of the facility, Head of the Department of Works at NIS, Jude Abu, noted that the 200-bed hostel complex was commissioned as accommodation for NIS students during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s era and belongs to the institute.

He therefore called on all unauthorised occupants to vacate the property on or before December 31, 2026, or face legal action.

However, in a statement by the SA Media, Office of the Director-General, Ben Ogbemudia, the NIS has described as provocative and unlawful the NSC’s removal of its official NIS notice from the premises and further replacing it with the commission’s eviction notice.