The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said many civil servants in the FCT do not like him because he stopped what he described as wasteful spending and redirected government funds to infrastructure projects, especially road construction.
Wike made the remarks on Thursday during his monthly media briefing in Abuja, where he spoke about the FCT administration's spending priorities and defended his decision to reduce government expenses on foreign conferences.
According to the minister, he refused to approve large amounts of money for overseas trips and conferences, arguing that such spending offered little value compared to investing in projects that directly improve the lives of residents.
He said officials seeking to study land administration could visit Nigerian cities such as Lagos and Port Harcourt instead of travelling abroad.
Wike said funds that would have been used for foreign conferences are now being used to build roads and other infrastructure across the Federal Capital Territory.
He maintained that his administration is focused on projects that people can see and benefit from rather than spending public money on activities with limited impact.
The minister also said he changed the structure of the FCT budget after taking office. He explained that before his appointment, about 65 per cent of the budget was spent on recurrent expenditure while a smaller share went to capital projects.
According to him, his administration reversed that arrangement by allocating about 70 per cent of the budget to capital expenditure and 30 per cent to recurrent costs.
Wike argued that some conference-related spending had become a channel for diverting public funds.
He said he decided to stop such expenses and direct the money towards projects that would improve roads and other public infrastructure in the nation's capital.
He added that his financial decisions have made him unpopular with many civil servants because they affected practices that had existed before he assumed office.
Despite this, he insisted that he would continue to prioritise projects that deliver visible results for residents over spending on official trips and conferences.
.jfif)
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