President Tinubu signs FCT N1.28 trillion statutory allocation for 2024 into law

The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, has signed into law the N1.28 trillion statutory allocation for the 2024 Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

 The Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, revealed on Wednesday during a routine inspection of ongoing projects in the nation’s capital.

 He said, “We want to thank Mr. President, who has assented to the appropriation Act and enabled us to start the procurement process.”

 Mr Wike had explained that one hundred per cent of the budget is allocated for infrastructure development—ongoing projects and newly awarded ones.

 The Minister said with the President’s assent to the FCT’s 2024 budget, the territory will witness a revolution in infrastructure provision.

 He also pledged the commitment of the FCTA to ensuring the completion of some ongoing projects scheduled for commissioning in May this year.

 “What you will see will be a revolution in terms of infrastructure. With this budget, a lot of things will be done, not just in road construction but also in the health and education sectors. Just be assured that it will be a revolution of infrastructure in Abuja,” he said.

 Satisfaction

 He expressed satisfaction with the quality and speed of the road construction efforts in the FCT, further commending residents of the FCT for their support and understanding of the challenges, especially regarding traffic diversion.

 He, however, frowned upon undue criticisms of the development efforts of the FCT Administration, especially in areas of road construction seemingly to the detriment of other sectors and the supposed absence of streetlights in some areas, saying that those behind such criticisms are sadists.

 He said the FCT Administration has been consistent in its efforts to repair the streetlights that were vandalised, adding that streetlights are also being introduced to ongoing road projects in the FCT.

 He said, “People should be able to commend the government when there are improvements. I didn’t say that we are going to concentrate only on roads. We are saying we are going to focus on the health sector and the education sector, even in agriculture.”

 “In terms of education, in the last few weeks, we have flagged off the renovation of about 19 schools, and I did say that we are going to take up 21 schools again under the 2024 budget.”

 “These people know. It’s just that sometimes, they find it difficult to accept the reality on the ground that yes, things have changed… They are not happy because what they expect is not what they see. They thought that we would have failed, but unfortunately, we are not failing. We are getting stronger and stronger every day. So, don’t bother about sadists. There is nothing you can do about them.”

 The projects visited by the Minister include the provision of engineering infrastructure to the Guzape District Lot II, the Provision of roads and engineering infrastructure to the New Layout, and the Diplomatic Area as Phase II Contract of the ongoing Guzape Lot II District Infrastructure.

 Others are the provision of engineering infrastructure to Guzape District II Cadastral Zone A11 District, an Emergency Contract for the Resurfacing of existing roads in Asokoro District, and an Extension of Inner Southern Expressway (ISEX) from the Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX) to the Southern Parkway (S8/S9).