Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has restated that politicians will no longer be in charge of managing the Abuja International Conference Centre (AICC), following its multimillion-naira renovation.
Speaking after inspecting 17 different projects scheduled for commissioning starting June 10, the Minister said the newly upgraded centre will be managed and maintained by Julius Berger, the original construction firm, instead of any political officeholder.
“The centre will be maintained by Julius Berger, the company that built it. We are not going to give it to any other politician to manage. Maintenance is a significant challenge in this country, and we are committed to doing things differently,” Wike said.
He noted that the agreement with Julius Berger is still being finalized, but the key point is that all users of the AICC will contribute to its maintenance through service fees. According to him, trained Nigerian staff will handle the daily operations under the supervision of professionals from the company that provided the building’s new technology.
“Don’t worry about the new technology; the company that provided it will handle maintenance. The staff working there are Nigerians who have been supervised by us. The technology is not complicated, and we will start operations soon after commissioning,” he said.
Wike also discussed the wider issue of government efficiency. He noted that he had to bypass several bureaucratic hurdles in order to deliver on President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. He warned that civil servants who fail to align with the administration’s goals would be reassigned to inactive roles — or as he bluntly put it, “sent to Siberia.”
“Everything revolves around leadership. When leadership has set out goals and objectives to be achieved and the leadership is committed to it, you could be assured that that will be achieved. Prudent financial management is key,” Wike said.
He added that while bureaucracy can slow down progress, direct communication and clear expectations have helped civil servants understand what needs to be done.
“I have my people, the civil servants who are there and they understand the vision that the minister wants to achieve for Mr President, they have to key in. If they don’t key in, of course, we have to take a decision,” he noted.
