Despite Nyesom Wike’s infrastructure drive in Abuja, the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, believes that the former minister, Nasir El-Rufai, performed better as FCT minister.
Kingibe said common residents of Abuja are not benefiting from Wike’s projects in the capital city, adding that the minister is out of touch with the people’s needs.
The senator said this while speaking on ‘Political Paradigm,’ a programme on Channels Television on Tuesday.
According to her, to be a successful FCT minister is not just about infrastructure.
Kingibe said she disagreed with those praising Wike for his performance in Abuja, saying the minister’s projects do not put food on the table of FCT residents.
She said, “If you ask any FCT person who has been the minister who has performed the most in the FCT, they will tell you El-Rufai. Why? El-Rufai built roads, he also responded to the needs of the people.”
“El-Rufai was also the sort of minister when the people have a major problem, he did not take the senator to common people like me to say, Oh, the place you have moved the abattoir to, there’s no infrastructure.
They cannot go there. There’s no security, there’s no water, there’s no this. So being a successful minister isn’t just about infrastructure.”
She stressed that a minister must be receptive to the needs of the people to identify where the lapses are.
In a swift reaction, Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and Social Media to Wike, has fired back at Kingibe, stating that his principal would not be distracted by the senator’s political shenanigans.
In a statement on Tuesday, Olayinka asked Kingibe to stop being shameless and pay attention to the welfare of her legislative aides, many of whom, she alleged, had left as a result of non-payment of their salaries and entitlements for as long as six months.
