The newly rehabilitated Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s International Conference Centre has been fully booked until 2027, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike has said.
The ICC was inaugurated on June 10, inaugurated by the president after the facility was rehabilitated by the FCT Administration led by Wike.
The rehabilitation of the ICC had also received condemnation from several political leaders and groups like Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State who described the venture as wasteful.
According to Obi, the N39 billion funds used for the renovation of the project could have been invested in Nigeria’s failing education or health systems.
The Minister had warned during the inauguration of the ICC that any group, organisation or individual interested in using the facility must pay for it.
However, in a shocking disclosure, Wike said the faculty has received an overwhelming number of individuals, groups and organisations interested in using the facility for their events.
Speaking at the commissioning of the Kugbo Bus Terminal in Abuja on Thursday, Wike said he was in a tight corner and seeking ways to adjust bookings for the facility.
He said the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review had sent a request to use the ICC which is already fully booked until 2027.
“You know, Nigerians pretend. They like good things, but they will pretend as if they don’t. That Conference Centre,/ has been booked now till 2027, no space. In fact, I saw an application by the Deputy Speaker, on Constitutional Amendment. There’s no space, no day.
“I’m trying to adjust if he can pay on time. Because it’s not free. There’s nothing like it’s the National Assembly. You have to pay something for us to sustain the facility. Yes, you are helping us to pass our budget, but it’s not for that area. We have to do it very well. Yes, you are passing the budget, which is part of your function, but the sustainability is key, because you won’t like it to be what it used to be before,” Wike noted.
