THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, has suspended all events at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja.
Announcing the suspension shortly after inspecting the centre on Monday, April 8, the minister explained that the action was to enable Julius Berger to carry out holistic rehabilitation of the centre.
Wike had earlier terminated the contract of Messrs Integrated Facility Management Services Limited, assigned to manage the centre.
The Director of Press, Office of the Minister, Mr. Anthony Ogunleye, who announced the decision, said Julius Berger had been contracted for the immediate renovation of the centre.
But after going round the facility, the minister described it as a mere conference centre, noting: “There is nothing international about the centre. When we came here for the ECOWAS inauguration sometime last week, with President Bola Tinubu, no right-thinking human being would see the state of this facility and be happy.
“In fact, during the inauguration, Tinubu drew my attention to the rot. Even the lighting system was so poor. This is unacceptable. There is no way we can accept this as an International Conference Centre.
“You can call it a conference centre, but not international, because there is no standard compared to any international conference centre.”
He said the FCT Administration would not continue to be embarrassed by the poor state of the centre, adding: “So, we are sorry to announce this; every booking made here is cancelled.
“We will start immediate rehabilitation of the centre to meet up with international standards.”
The minister stated that Julius Berger had been given eight months to complete the total renovation of the centre, with the aim of transforming the facility into a befitting international conference centre that Nigerians would be proud of.
He explained that Julius Berger was called back to rehabilitate the centre, being the company that built the edifice, noting: “We believed that in the next seven to eight months, the company would do something that Nigerians and the international community would appreciate.”
On the management of the centre when the rehabilitation is completed, Wike said the Managing Director of Abuja Investment Company (AIC), Ambassador Maureen Tamuno, knows what to do, stating: “If she does not do it well, we will have no choice but to wield the big stick. But I believe she has the capacity to run it well.”
He said he was not probing anybody on what led to the rot of the centre, but committed to getting the job done and giving the country a befitting international conference centre.
