Wike Will Face Serious Problems In FCT— Ex- Akwa Ibom Gov

Obong Victor Attah, a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State has said that the new FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike will face serious problems because of inadequate policy for the capital city.

Attah said lack of policies is the reason why past FCT ministers made laws the way they wanted.

The former governor said this on Thursday during an interview on Arise TV.

Attah said, “I wrote a paper and said what the British did after the Second World War was to create new towns. The only new town that I know effectively is Abuja. But that was done even without a new town policy. That is why Wike is having problems today because every minister who comes does whatever he likes because there is no policy. I said let’s develop a new town policy in the Niger Delta.”

Wike on Monday briefed his members of staff in the ministry where he threatened to demolish properties that do not conform with the FCT masterplan as well as withdraw undeveloped lands from speculators.

Wike also banned cattle grazing in the FCT.

“Street trading is prohibited. People selling corn will drop their waste indiscriminately and these are the things that cause insecurity. Criminals come to buy and use the opportunity to spy and give information to criminals. It is imperative we clear street hawkers,” he said on Wednesday.

Reactions have trailed Wike’s comments with the opposition party accusing him of being “bullish.”

Attah linked the case of the FCT as the reason why the NDDC is not the solution for the development of the Niger Delta region.

He suggested that the problem of the Niger Delta can be resolved if the NDDC is scrapped and the people are allowed to control their resources.

He said, “If you are serious about developing the Niger Delta region, you must have a ministry. If the FCT depended on the Federal Ministry of Works to give it roads or the Ministry of Health to give it health facilities… Create a ministry properly funded. I hear Momoh say he wants to transform the Niger Delta region; he cannot do it unless there is a budget for him to do it.

“So, there will be a budget that will provide for work, health, education, social amenities, and all other infrastructure that we need to develop a region. But that is not happening. We just have not defined what we want to do. A full and ultimate answer is total resource control.”