Wike defends ₦39bn ICC renovation, says Nigeria deserves world-class infrastructure
The FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday, said the FCT Administration was expending ₦39 billion on the rehabilitation of the Abuja International Conference Centre, ICC.
Wike made this known when he inspected the renovation work on the centre being executed by Julius Berger.
The minister recalled that President Bola Tinubu had described the centre as an eyesore when he inaugurated the sixth legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament on April 4, 2024.
He said that, thereafter, Tinubu directed that the centre should be shut down and mandated the FCTA to carry out its total rehabilitation.
He explained that rehabilitation was necessary to give the country a befitting international conference centre.
Wike said the rehabilitation work had reached between 70 and 80 per cent completion and expressed confidence that the facility would be ready for public use in May.
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He said all the materials needed to complete the work had been imported.
In a swift riposte, members of the Nigerian public, assailed by data by an acclaimed Political Affairs Int. on the monument, have cast significant doubt on the ₦39b being expended on its renovation.
The data by the Political Affairs Int. stated that Abuja International Conference Centre, built in 1991 for ₦240m, is being renovated in 2025 for ₦39b by Wike…
Broken down, the Abuja International Conference Centre (AICC), “the Political Affairs Int. claimed, was built at an estimated cost of $29.6 million (about ₦240 million at the exchange rate of the time). It was completed in 1991 and has since been one of Nigeria’s premier venues for national and international events.
“In 2025, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Ezenwo Wike – CON, GSSRS, says the FCT Administration is expending ₦39 billion on the rehabilitation of the Abuja International Conference Centre.
“How much will it cost to build another Conference Centre?
“Source- Political Affairs Int”
The short analysis by Political Affairs Int is doing the rounds on the social media, raising genuine concern and curiosity over the integrity of public finance around the project.
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