Mr. Nysom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has said Senator Ireti Kingibe will not return to the Senate in 2027.
The former governor of Rivers State accused the FCT lawmaker of failing to offer meaningful representation to residents of the nation’s capital.
Wike spoke on Tuesday while inspecting ongoing road projects in Abuja, in response to Kingibe’s allegation that the FCT Administration had obtained loans without getting the required approval of the National Assembly.
Kingibe in August raised concerns with the Senate leadership over the FCT’s borrowings, insisting that she had never seen Wike appear before the National Assembly to seek approval for loans.
While responding, Wike said the allegation showed that the senator did not understand the process through which government borrowing is approved.
“There is no way you can go and take a loan without the approval of the national assembly. If you want to take a loan, you will include it in the budget and state that, in this aspect of the budget, the government will take out a loan,” he said.
The minister then turned to Kingibe’s political future, declaring that she would not return to the red chamber after the 2027 election.
“I don’t want to comment about her. She is already packing her things out. The people of the FCT have made their choice. They are going to support president Tinubu and Philip Aduda for senate,” Wike said.
Wike also criticised Kingibe’s record as an FCT senator, alleging that she had “failed in all ramifications” and had not delivered meaningful development to residents.
He argued that Kingibe’s focus should instead have been on whether borrowed funds were being properly applied to infrastructure projects and whether residents were benefiting from them.
“I thought she would criticise that I am doing nothing. So if her problem is that I took a loan, if I took a loan, I am using it to work. I thought her concern would have been: are we applying the loan to work for the interest of residents?” he said.
The loan dispute followed Kingibe’s claim that the FCT’s domestic debt had increased significantly since Wike became minister. Her position was based on information she said she obtained from the Debt Management Office covering August 2023 to March 2026.
The House of Representatives, however, has rejected the allegation that Wike breached the required borrowing procedures. Its Deputy spokesman, Philip Agbese, said there was no evidence that the minister violated the relevant processes in financing FCT infrastructure projects.
