The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says he has no regret naming Abuja International Conference Centre after President Bola Tinubu.
By Philip Yatai
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, says he has no regret naming Abuja International Conference Centre after President Bola Tinubu.
Wike said this in Abuja on Friday, during the inauguration of the completed 15-kilometre left hand service carriage way of OSEX Stage II, from Ring Road I to Wassa Junction.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that criticism followed the naming of the rehabilitated Abuja International Conference Centre after Tinubu, shortly after it was reopened on Tuesday.
Others described expending N39 billion to renovate the edifice as a misplaced priority.
Reacting, Wike wondered why some people were criticising the naming of the conference centre after Tinubu.
According to him, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport was not built by Azikiwe and Moshood Abiola National Stadium was not built by Abiola.
He added that those criticising the rehabilitation of the centre do not have good taste.
“I have done it, and I have no regret at all,” Wike said.
He said that the only thing that was not changed in the centre was the structure saying, “everything in that centre was changed”.
He expressed dismay that instead of commending Tinubu for doing very well, some people derived pleasure in indulging in baseless criticism.
Wike said those who described the N39 billion spent on the renovation of the centre as a misplaced priority had lost track of time and the changing exchange rate of Naira to a Dollar.
“They said that the centre was built with N240 million, but which year? 1991.
“What was the exchange rate in 1991 compared with today? Look at it, 1991 and we are now in 2025.
“Nobody who loves this country will criticise the rehabilitation of the international conference centre,” he said.
The minister said that Nigeria was seen as the giant of Africa, adding that people must see what makes the country the giant of Africa.