By Sarah NEGEDU
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has vowed that no amount of blackmail by contractors will force him to pay questionable debts, insisting that the recent clamour for payments by local contractors was “corruption fighting back.”
Wike, who spoke at the official inauguration of the rehabilitated Phase II Water Treatment Plant at the Lower Usuma Dam in Ushafa, Bwari Area Council, said he would not bow to pressure from those parading as indigenous contractors who have besieged the FCTA secretariat since yesterday demanding over N5.2 billion in alleged debts.
The minister who dismissed their protest as charade said he will not be intimidated. “Let me use this opportunity to tell people that no amount of blackmail will stop us from being focused. All through yesterday and throughout today, I’ve been watching Channels television, they are focusing on so-called local contractors, that are being owed. I will never be intimidated.
“Let anybody who said I awarded a contract bring the documents and show how I awarded the contract. You see the problem in this country is that when you want to fight corruption, corruption will fight you back, and it’s corruption that is fighting back. We are going to defeat corruption.”
He accused the contractors of spreading false claims that they borrowed money to finance contracts that were never awarded by the current administration. According to him, the culture of inflating and manipulating contract awards was responsible for years of abandoned projects in the nation’s capital.
“Civil servants stay in their offices and award contracts worth 15 million, 10 million, 20 million without the minister knowing. And then you hear, ministers, sitting in the office and people will tell you that you are owing N15 billion, when you don’t know when it was awarded, certainly it will not happen! Let heaven come down! Nobody can intimidate me on that!” The minister fired.
“If you see the faces of those people, do they don’t look like contractors? If you look at their faces, you will know that those who awarded the contracts to themselves, are bringing those people to come.
“They will continue to demonstrate. If you like, go to the British embassy, all the embassies, sleep there. I will never feel pressured. If I award contracts, I will pay.”
On the water project, Wike explained that the rehabilitation of the Lower Usuma Phase II treatment plant, first awarded in 2022 at the cost of N50 billion, was critical to improving potable water supply across Abuja.
He said the project has now boosted the plant’s carrying capacity, thereby improving access to quality water for residents of the FCT.
The minister further recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in September 2024 signed an agreement during a state visit to China for the expansion of water supply infrastructure in Abuja, an intervention valued at N90 billion.
“Mr. President is committed to ensuring that Abuja has steady and safe water supply. That is why when he travelled to China, he signed an agreement worth over N90 billion. This project we are inaugurating today is part of that larger vision,” Wike said.
While reiterating that his administration will prioritize completion of ongoing projects over settling questionable claims, Wike insisted that his focus remains on delivering infrastructure that directly benefits residents.
“Instead of diverting funds, we are using them to provide potable water, roads, schools, hospitals and other facilities for our people. That is the renewed hope agenda in action,” the minister concluded.
Earlier, the FCT Minister of State, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his unwavering support to infrastructural renewal and for prioritizing critical projects that directly touch the lives of ordinary citizens.
She, therefore, called on residents to rededicate themselves to the proper management and sustainability of the water treatment plant so that generations yet unborn would continue to benefit from this vital infrastructure.
