Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, is seeking deeper investment cooperation between European Union countries and the FCT Administration, urging partners to expand engagement in key development sectors.
Wike made the appeal on Tuesday, at a meeting with EU Heads of Mission at the European Union House in Abuja, where he outlined priority areas of the administration and existing opportunities in the capital territory.
The meeting was chaired by the Head of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Gautier Mignot, and attended by envoys from several European countries including Italy, Austria, Ireland, France, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, Czech Republic and Denmark.
In his remarks, Wike said the administration remained open to sustained collaboration with the EU in advancing development goals.
“I thank the European Union Delegation to Nigeria for the invitation and continued partnership with the Nigerian Government in advancing shared values of development, stability, and prosperity.
“Today, drawing from the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, I will briefly highlight the priority areas of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), the investment opportunities therein, and offer an overview on Nigeria’s evolving political landscape,” he said.
Wike listed infrastructure expansion, security, education, health, social welfare, land administration reforms and revenue generation as key focus areas of the FCTA.
He said the administration had embarked on sustained infrastructure development, including expansion of road networks, modernisation of public transport and improvement of water supply.
The minister said, “We have embarked on a deliberate and sustained investment in infrastructure as a catalyst for economic growth and social inclusion by expanding road networks, modernizing public transport and improving water supply.
“As a priority too, the administration has strengthened security infrastructure through the building of 12 new fully equipped/furnished Divisional Police Headquarters and Officers’ Quarters, (2 each in the 6 Area Councils).”
On electoral reforms, Wike told the diplomats that amendments to the Electoral Act were aimed at strengthening credibility in the system, while taking Nigeria’s peculiar challenges into account.
“In the newly ammended Electoral Act, there is provision for electronic transmission of results. But because of our peculiarities, it was included that where electronic transmission fails, manual transmission can be used. Meanwhile, there is no such provision in the 2022 ammended Electoral Act,” he said.
He added that Nigeria’s democratic space was maturing, stressing that opposition politics should not be reduced to crisis creation but should support governance and provide alternatives.
Wike also said the relationship between the Executive and Legislature had improved under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing both arms as increasingly cooperative in governance delivery.
“Compared to earlier periods, there is a decline in highly volatile and rancorous politicking that characterized the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature. The relationship between these two key institutions have become that of ‘partners-in-progress’ in the making and implementation of policies and programmes for the welfare of Nigerians.”
On economic reforms, the Minister said the administration had introduced difficult but necessary measures aimed at stabilising the economy and improving welfare.
“The Current Administration in its Renewed Hope Agenda framework, has made bold and at times, difficult reforms aimed at repositioning the economy and improving citizens’ welfare.
“These include; Economic Reforms and Fiscal Restructuring/Discipline, which ensured Subsidy Removal to eliminating a long-standing but corruption-prone system and free up public funds, unification of foreign exchange rates to stabilize the currency and tax reforms aimed at Streamlining the Tax System to improve revenue generation.
“Expansion of Social and Welfare Interventions with initiatives like the conditional cash tranfster and support for Small and Medium Enterprises to cushion the effect of difficult economic reforms on vulnerable populations and student loan tailored towards giving the Children and Wards of the poor, access to education even at the tertiary education levels.”
He acknowledged security challenges linked to insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and terrorist activity in the Sahel region, saying government efforts are focused on strengthening intelligence and inter-agency coordination to address them.
