Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Bala Mohammed has finally reacted to controversies surrounding FCTA’s budget for the 2013 fiscal year concerning the Abuja City Gate, the African First Ladies Peace Mission House and rehabilitation of prostitutes and destitute in the city.
For about two weeks running, the media has been awash with stories alleging that the FCTA had, this fiscal year, proposed a staggering N5bn for rehabilitation of prostitutes and destitute alone, another N7.5bn for the construction of Abuja City gate and N4bn for the building of office for an NGO.
However, speaking through his Special Assistant on Media, Nosike Ogbuenyi, the minister dismissed the various claims about the FCT 2013 budget as the product of negative politics by unscrupulous individuals bent on blackmailing him.
He said that the powerful forces behind the allegations were planning to sponsor an artificial protest in Abuja against the minister.
“Those currently plotting against the minister are doing so because of politics of cabinet appointments, 2015 political calculations and general quest for power, in which case they perceive the FCT minister as a formidable obstacle to the realisation of their narrow ambitions.”
Ogbuenyi urged all residents of FCT and entire law-abiding citizens of the country to totally disregard the misleading reports and rumours about the 2013 budget of FCT, especially as they pertain to destitute’ and prostitutes’ rehabilitation and the African First Ladies Peace Mission Secretariat building because they are outright misrepresentations of facts and figures.
He also clarified that there was nothing like City Gate in the 2013 budget of FCT so no money was appropriated for such. He enjoined all peace-loving people to refrain from being used by those who are out to cause trouble and disaffection in the polity, all in quest of selfish political and social interests.
“There is nothing like city gate project in the 2013 budget of the FCT. The contract for the expansion of the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Expressway (Airport Road), Abuja where the former city gate was located was awarded in 2009 before the present FCT Minister’s appointment in April 2010,” Ogbuenyi said.
“In that contract, what were provided for in the location of the old city were multiple interchanges (flyovers) for entry and exit from the city centre. The 2013 budget of FCT is before the 469 members of the Senate and the House of Representatives and any person who wants to peruse the document can approach the lawmakers.”
On the alleged budgeting of N5bn for rehabilitation of prostitutes and the destitute, he stated that the entire budget of the Social Development Secretariat (the ministry charged with those responsibilities and other duties) for the 2013 fiscal year is N4.7bn.
Out of this amount, he said the sum of N931.3m is for personnel cost, N1.6bn for overhead expenditure and N2.2bn for capital expenditure while the sum of N150m is budgeted for evacuation and rehabilitation of destitute, prostitutes (commercial sex workers) and other vulnerable persons in FCT in 2013.
Ogbuenyi explained that the duties of the Social Development Secretariat transcend the rehabilitation of prostitutes, beggars, hawkers and other groups of destitute in the FCT, saying that the schedule of the secretariat encompasses improvement of the economic wellbeing of FCT residents through the implementation of initiatives that help in the empowerment of all vulnerable persons and groups in the FCT.
According to him, the fact that there are seven departments under the Social Development Secretariat attests to the widespread nature of its mandate, which is not restricted to rehabilitating prostitutes and destitute. He listed the departments under the Secretariat to include Sports, Arts and Culture, Youths, Tourism, Gender, Welfare, and Administration.
Regarding the African First Ladies Peace Mission House, Abuja, Ogbuenyi pointed out that it is not a property or NGO belonging to the Nigerian First Lady or any other individual but it is the secretariat of the African First Ladies Peace Mission of the African Union (AU). He said that Act Number 6 (formerly Decree No. 6) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which created the FCT and the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), vests the FCT Administration with the statutory function of designing and constructing public buildings on behalf of the Federal Government for use by all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) as well as other national and international organisations in the overall interest of the Nigerian people and mankind generally.
“It was in pursuit of that onerous responsibility that the FCTA embarked on the construction of the African First Ladies Peace Mission Secretariat in Abuja. For the benefit of the public, it is pertinent to mention yet again that the FCT Administration has, in the past, built edifices such as the Women Centre and the National Hospital for Women and Children (now National Hospital) both of which were championed by former First Ladies. These buildings are today still being used and enjoyed by the public.
“The African First Ladies Peace Mission was created in 1996 to promote peace and harmony in the African continent. Its birth followed the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women and its subsequent Declaration in Zimbabwe, during which the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU) keyed into the action. All the African First Ladies had at their conference resolved unanimously to make Abuja the seat of the permanent secretariat of the Peace Mission whose importance is underscored by the spate of internecine crises ravaging different parts of Africa.”
He described it as ironic that the construction of the continental secretariat of such a pivotal and altruistic organ of the AU, such as the African First Ladies Peace Mission, could be made a subject of ill-motivated debates and evil politics as currently being witnessed.
The also reassured residents of the territory that their wellbeing and security remain paramount in the FCT Administration’s considerations, and enjoined them to remain vigilant while continuing with their legitimate activities under a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere.
