The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has rejected allegations by Senator Ireti Kingibe that loans were obtained to finance projects in Abuja without the approval of the National Assembly.
Wike dismissed the allegation on Tuesday while speaking with journalists in Abuja after inspecting some ongoing projects in the Federal Capital Territory.
The minister questioned how the FCT Administration could lawfully secure loans without the involvement of the National Assembly, insisting that borrowing for government projects must be captured in the budget and subjected to the required approval process.
He said, “Do non-lawyers know where we can go and take a loan without the approval of the National Assembly?
“If you want to take a loan, you will include it in the budget. It is part of the budget that we are going to collect a loan to execute some projects in the FCT.”
Kingibe, who represents the FCT in the Senate, had earlier alleged that the FCT Administration obtained loans without securing the necessary approval from the National Assembly.
The senator said she became aware of the alleged borrowings after examining information from the Debt Management Office covering the period between August 2023 and March 2026. She also said she had raised the issue with the leadership of the Senate.
However, Wike questioned Kingibe’s understanding of the legislative and financial procedures governing government borrowing, arguing that the allegation suggested a misunderstanding of how such transactions are authorised.
The minister also took a swipe at the senator’s political relevance, claiming that she would not return to the Senate after the next election.
He further claimed that residents of the FCT had chosen to support President Bola Tinubu and former FCT senator Philip Aduda.
Wike said, “She’s already packing her things out. The people have made a choice; they are going to support President Tinubu and Aduda. So let us not waste our time reacting to an ex-senator in all ramifications.”
The minister also linked Kingibe’s criticism to the scale of infrastructure projects currently being executed across Abuja.
According to him, the senator had previously accused his administration of failing to deliver projects but changed her criticism after seeing the level of development taking place in the capital.
“I thought she criticised that I’m doing nothing. So now her problem is that I took a loan,” Wike said.
He added that even if loans had been obtained, the more important issue should be whether the funds were being used to execute projects that serve the interests of residents.
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“Assuming I took a loan, our concern should have been: are we applying the loan to fulfil the interest of residents?” he said.
The dispute over FCT borrowing had earlier drawn a response from the Deputy Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Philip Agbese, who said there was no evidence that Wike violated the law in financing projects in the territory.
