News
Wike wants early completion of Nyanya/Karshi/Apo roads
The Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Barrister Nyesom Wike has directed contractors handling the Apo/Karshi road and the newly awarded rehabilitation of Nyanya/Karshi road to ensure early completion according to their
Speaking with journalists after inspecting the ongoing projects, Wike said the Apo-Karshi Road project was very dear to the administration and expressed doubt that the Contractor – Messr Kakatar, could deliver on the April 2025 deadline as promised by the contractor.
He said, “We thought that within seven months they ought to have completed but unfortunately the contractor could not move to site because of some procurement processes. But thank God we have passed that stage now and they have also been mobilised.
“I still have my doubts, I will not lie to you, but the contractors are insisting that by April they would have completed this project. It is a project that is very dear to us. We know the importance of this road. So many people are eager to see that this road is completed on time so that it will ease off a lot of traffic. It will also boost the economic activities in this area.
“So let us give them (the contractor) the benefit of doubt and believe that they will play their own part. On our own part, we are doing what we are supposed to do. The funds are there to be given to them.
“And we believe that they should put more efforts. If I come back here again and see that they have improved on what we have seen on ground today, I will tell the treasury department to release further funds to them, but for now let’s watch them because we are very serious about this project”.
The Minister who said that government is a continuum, stressed that the benefit of moving on with the project far out weights the implication of abandoning it because of the myriads of issues surrounding the award of the project and the work being done, adding that the benefits for people were government’s main priority.
He said, “There a lot of things that happened in the award of this project but we try to move on and let people not think we are playing politics, but it wasn’t good at all, I can tell you that. But we have no choice than to see that the people do not suffer”.
While fielding questions on the option of cancelling the project and re-award it to a different contractor, the minister said: “People don’t understand that when you cancel a project there are many implications. There are financial implications and there are legal implications and so many things. So, what we will do is to continue to encourage the contractor to see that he finishes this project on time.
“We don’t have any problem on our own part, that is why from time to time we will come and check to see that the project is delivered on time”.
Speaking on the emergency rehabilitation of 18-kilometre Nyanya-Karshi road contracted to Messrs SCC Nigeria Limited, the Minister also stressed the importance of the road to the economic development of the area, saying that the decision to rehabilitate the road was necessitated by its deplorable condition, which he had observed during a prior visit to Apo-Karshi Road project.
He said, “What attracted me to the road, if you remember, when we came to this Karshi-Apo Road last time, we took that road and I saw how bad it was and I said this is not acceptable to us. And we wrote to Mr President and he approved that there should be immediate rehabilitation of that road. And we are doing it under emergency. And we contracted SCC to see how they can rehabilitate the road.
“It is an 18-kilometre road with streetlights and they have given us eight months to complete the work. We know how important that road is, look at many agencies of government along that road. So, if emergency rehabilitation on that road is done and the Apo Karshi Road is completed, then we are free to go”
Speaking on site both the Head of Engineering, SCC Nigeria Limited, Engr. Ori Aridor and the Executive Director Engineering, Kakatar Company Limited, Engr. Ezekiel Panan assured the Minister that the projects would be completed on time.
The legal team of suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, say they are ready with factil evidence to defend her in court.
The team received a formal summons in the case filed against her by the Federal Government at the Federal Capital Territory High Court last week.
On Friday, May 16, 2025, the Federal Government filed the suit, marked CR/297/25, over alleged defamatory remarks made during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025.
The government accused the senator of “making imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person”, citing Section 391 of the Penal Code, cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990.
Among the witnesses listed to testify during the trial were Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
Others include Asuquo Ekpenyong, a senator; Sandra Duru; Maya Iliya, investigating police officers; and Abdulhafiz Garba, investigating police officers.
However, in a statement issued Friday night by Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa (SAN) on behalf of the legal team, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyers confirmed receipt of the formal summons and pledged to prepare all “factual and statutory defences” available to the lawmaker during trial.
“At about 2:30pm on Friday, May 23, 2025, within the premises of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, we received the information filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, containing three counts alleging that our client, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central, made imputations she had reason to believe would harm the reputation of Senator Godswill Akpabio, President of the 10th Senate,” the statement read.
“We received the said information on her behalf through a letter of authority duly issued and filed in the court’s registry.
“The legal team will fully prepare and present all factual and statutory defences available to our client during the trial.”
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will on Tuesday next week begin the take over of 4,794 properties in Abuja, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headquarters, due to unpaid ground rent.
The PDP headquarters, currently under construction in Abuja’s Central Business District, is among the affected properties, having been revoked in March for several years of unpaid ground rent. The FCTA disclosed that 4,794 titles had been revoked for failure to pay ground rent, with some defaults dating back 43 years.
The affected properties are located in various districts, including Central Area, Garki I and II, Wuse I and II, Asokoro, Maitama, and Guzape.
The defaulters owe over N6.96 billion in ground rent. The FCTA had given a 21-day grace period for owners with debts under 10 years, which has now expired.
The FCTA officials announced that the takeover would begin on Monday, May 26, 2025, with the sealing off and restriction of access to the affected properties.
The Director of Land Administration, Chijioke Nwankwoeze emphasized that the revocations were carried out under Section 28(5)(a)(b) of the Land Use Act, which empowers the government to reclaim land when the terms of occupancy are violated.
Two people sustained serious injuries when a training aircraft crash-landed at the Ilorin International Airport on Friday.
Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance, NSIB, Mrs Bimbo Oladeji, who disclosed this in a statement, said the incident occurred at 17:28 local time on May 23, 2025, during a simulated instrument approach on Runway 05 at Ilorin International Airport.
Oladeji said the aircraft veered off the runway and came to a stop on the grass verge, leaving the two occupants on board injured.
She stated: “Both sustained serious injuries and were swiftly evacuated to a medical facility, coordinated by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA.
“In response, the NSIB Go-Team is currently preparing to depart from Abuja to Ilorin to conduct on-site investigations. The team will secure the site, collect physical evidence, interview witnesses, and retrieve operational data to establish the cause and contributing factors of the incident.”
Quoting the Director General of the NSIB, Captain Alex Badeh Jr., she said “Our thoughts are with the injured, and we commend the swift medical and emergency response. Now, our focus is on understanding exactly what went wrong. Every investigation is an opportunity to improve safety. We are deploying our team to Ilorin to ensure that no detail is overlooked.”
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