Photo: Senator Ireti Kingibe
By: Mandy Park
Ireti Kingibe, Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, has accused the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, of failing to act on repeated concerns she raised over flooding, blocked drainage channels and other infrastructure challenges in Abuja.
Kingibe said she had drawn attention to the risks of flooding and the destruction of green areas months before heavy rainfall caused severe flooding across parts of the nation’s capital.
Several residents were stranded on Saturday after torrential rainfall resulted in flooding, with vehicles submerged in some areas of the FCT.
Speaking on Monday during Prime Time, an Arise Television programme, the senator said she had attempted to engage Wike on the issues but received no meaningful response.
Kingibe stressed that political differences should not prevent elected representatives and government officials from working together for the benefit of Abuja residents.
“From the beginning, I’ve always said there has been no reason for there to be political conflict on my part. I’m used to an Abuja where senators and ministers don’t necessarily come from the same party but have worked together in the interest of the people,” she said.
She said concerns about the loss of green spaces and the consequences for the city’s drainage system had been raised as far back as December, adding that she had complained about similar problems a year earlier.
The lawmaker recalled contacting the head of development control shortly after assuming office to raise concerns about developments that could worsen flooding.
According to her, her position was based on her responsibility to protect the interests of her constituents and was not motivated by a personal dispute with Wike.
“As an engineer, I could see the potential. When I first became a senator, Lugbe flooded very badly. I went and looked at the flood channels and some of them even had houses inside them. That’s scary. So, somebody must have given approval,” she said.
“It’s not personal to the minister. It’s just that everything that impacts negatively on my constituents, I need to take it up with somebody, and he’s the person who is giving direct approval for some of these things.”
Kingibe said she intentionally toned down her public criticism of the minister in the hope that it would encourage greater cooperation between them, but said the strategy had yielded no result.
She disclosed that she subsequently wrote to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), seeking clarification on its plans to address flooding and related infrastructure problems.
The senator said she did not initially demand specific actions such as conducting a drainage audit or removing structures, but instead asked the agency to identify the problems and state the urgent measures it intended to implement.
“As I have said in some of my videos, I even tried to be less publicly critical of him to see if that would make him work with me in a manner that’s in the best interest of the constituents. Nothing works,” she said.
“But it’s not about shutting me up. It’s not about any of those things. It’s about the people’s welfare. They voted for me and the house of representatives members.”
Kingibe said she expected the FCDA to respond to her correspondence, unlike Wike, whom she alleged had failed to respond to letters she sent him.
She also pointed to the oversight responsibility of the Senate Committee on the FCT, saying the committee should scrutinise the activities of agencies involved in managing and developing Abuja.
“That’s why I don’t bother to write to him, because he never responds. But this agency, it’s directly. And when they don’t respond, then I can now take on the chairman of the FCT committee over all the things that are going on in the FCT,” she said.
