Reps pass N1.81tr FCT budget
Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has contradicted the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the cause of the explosion that occurred in front of the Mogadishu Military Barracks in Abuja, on Monday.
 
The agency had attributed the blast to suicide bombing.

But fielding questions from journalists during inspection of some road projects lined up for commissioning to mark President Bola Tinubu’s second year in office, Wike stated that the briefings he got showed that NEMA was incorrect.

He said: “The security never said it was a suicide bomber. So, don’t go and create an impression and put fear in people. NEMA is not the head of security. Security agencies are there.

“What happened was that there was somebody who went to where we have these quarries, where they blast all these rocks. The person took the explosive and put it in his pocket. Of course, some of them may not even understand the implication of that, and so it exploded on him.

“So, that does not mean that it is a suicide bomber. We should be careful with the story we are planting; let’s not send the wrong message to the residents.”

MEANWHILE, the House of Representatives has approved the N1.81 trillion Federal Capital Territory (FCT) budgetary proposal for the fiscal year 2025
 
The budget was passed yesterday after its presentation for consideration by the Chairman of the House Committee on FCT, Mukhtar Betara (APC, Borno).
 
The House sanctioned the budget despite concerns raised on Tuesday by the House Committee on Area Councils and Ancillary Matters, which declared that the budget defence by the minister, Wike, before the Joint Senate and House Committees on the FCT was incomplete.