The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, has renamed the Abuja International Conference Centre after President Bola Tinubu.
Wike made this known during Tinubu’s unveiling of the rehabilitated centre in Abuja on Tuesday, which was part of activities to celebrate the president’s second year in office.
He also named some of the halls after Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chief Justice of Nigeria Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas.
According to him, this is to thank them for supporting the FCT Administration and demonstrating the cordial working relationship among the Executive, Judiciary, and Legislative arms of government.
He recalled that the conference centre was built in 1991 under the military government and that it has not been rehabilitated since then.
He said that Tinubu, in line with his “Renewed Hope Agenda,” ordered the rehabilitation of the conference centre following its dilapidated state.
Wike added that following Tinubu’s quality leadership, the matching order transformed the edifice into a befitting conference centre, demonstrating that Nigeria was truly the giant of Africa.
“Today, Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre is a match with any other international conference centre in the world,” he said.
However, the minister said that to maintain the facility, everybody who intends to use the conference centre must pay.
“I want to let everybody know that, whether you are a ministry or an agency, if you want to use this, you have to pay something. That is the only way it can be sustained.
“Nothing like my brother, my sister has a wedding. If you want to use such a beautiful place, you must pay something,” he added.
Wike said that the centre was handed over to a politician to manage, and he ruined the place.
He added that when the FCT Administration took over the edifice to rehabilitate it, the politician dragged the FCT Administration to court, amidst other pressures from politicians.
He thanked Tinubu for encouraging him to proceed with the rehabilitation and ignore the distractors, saying, “If not for your kind of person, we would not have done this work.
“We thank God for showing that leadership. This is because our problem is leadership. If you have the right leadership, things will get done, and that is what you have shown us.”
Tinubu, who described Wike as a transformative leader, noted the dilapidated state of the centre when he visited the centre to attend the ECOWAS Parliament.
“It was a filthy, disorganised, uninhabitable environment. Aside from the side talk I had with the Senate President, I turned to Wike and said this conference centre is not reflecting who we are. Have we sunk this low?
“He said no, but bear with us; we will do whatever we can to transform the place. You won’t return to find it dilapidated, and today, I am very happy.
“I am greatly honoured and happy to be here to reopen this international conference centre as part of our determined efforts to change the way we do things, to reflect us as people of quality, people of character, people of determination, people of great spirit.
“That is who we are, and I am glad that you, Nyesom Wike, are reflecting that,” the president said.
Tinubu urged Wike not to pay attention to the busybodies and bystanders, “Whatever they say, continue to do your good work.
“You are a transformational leader. You have the foresight, the vision, and the determination to succeed. Thank you very much.”
Akpabio commended Wike for renovating, rehabilitating, and transforming the international conference centre.
“We are proud that we do the budgeting, we give the approvals, and you do the execution,” he said.The centre, built by Julius Berger Nigeria PLC in 1990 and completed in time for the 1991 OAU Heads of Government meeting, has long served as a venue for government functions, international summits, exhibitions, and corporate events.