Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, is seeking President Bola Tinubu’s intervention to complete the long-abandoned Millennium Tower, saying the project now requires between N300 billion and N400 billion, an amount far beyond what the FCT Administration can fund from its statutory budget.
Wike said the soaring cost of completing the iconic structure had made it impossible for the FCT Administration to finance it without putting other critical infrastructure projects on hold.
The minister said the administration was already discussing the matter with President Tinubu, with a view to redesignating the project as a national monument that could be funded directly by the Federal Government.
The Millennium Tower, conceived as one of Abuja’s signature landmarks, was awarded during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. However, construction stalled years ago, leaving the structure abandoned despite several attempts by successive administrations to revive it.
Speaking with journalists after inspecting ongoing road projects across the capital on Thursday, Wike said the project should no longer be treated as one to be funded from the FCT’s annual budget.
“You know that’s a national project, and I believe that it’s one project that government should reconsider. It should be a tourist centre project and the capital involved is too huge for the FCT to have this on statutory budget,” he said.
He said discussions with the contractor showed that completing the tower would now gulp between N300 billion and N400 billion.
“As I speak to you, it’s not less than N300 to N400 billion that the contractor is talking about. And if you look at it, how do we carry such a project? It means that every other project in Abuja will have to be abandoned.”
Wike said that was why the FCT Administration had approached President Tinubu to consider taking over the project.
“But we are still talking to the President that we should reconsider it as a national project. So, that’s where we are.”
The minister who also expressed satisfaction with the pace of work at the Research and Institution District Road and the bridge component of the Inner Northern Expressway, said he had no reason to doubt that all ongoing road projects being executed by the FCT Administration would be completed before the end of the year.
“I don’t want to be pessimistic. I’m very optimistic that all the roads that we have gone for inspection, after the commissioning and flag-off, will also be done. As far as I’m concerned, latest by the end of this year,” he said.
Speaking on the Research and Institution District Road, the minister said the progress recorded by CCECC had reinforced his confidence that the project would be delivered on schedule.
“With what I saw today, I can tell you comfortably, if we complete that project, I can beat my chest and go home and say I’m happy. The administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu has succeeded in providing the basic infrastructure that has transformed Abuja to the city it is supposed to be.”
He also commended Arab Contractors for the quality of work on the Inner Northern Expressway project, describing the company as one of the administration’s most dependable contractors.
“They have never disappointed us. I believe in Arab Contractors and, for me, it’s the confidence. That’s why most companies, even if we have not done our own part, they still go ahead, knowing fully well that at the end of the day we will still fulfil our own obligation.”
On concerns over the N20 bridge project, Wike dismissed fears that the work could suffer delays, insisting that the administration had maintained a record of completing projects inherited from previous governments as well as those awarded under President Tinubu.
“What you should concern yourself with is, is there any project we have started and we have abandoned? Look at even the projects that were awarded since 2010. We have tried to see that all are completed, and the ones that this administration has awarded will also be completed.”
