Reps Say Wike Took No FCT Loans Without National Assembly Approval

The House of Representatives says Federal Capital Territory minister Nyesom Wike did not take loans for FCT projects without National Assembly approval.

Deputy House spokesperson Philip Agbese gave the clarification on Thursday after Senator Ireti Kingibe raised concerns that the FCT Administration had built up debts without the required legislative approval.

Agbese said public borrowing could not create a sovereign obligation outside constitutional and administrative procedures. He said FCT budgets and borrowing-related approvals pass through the relevant committees and the two chambers before implementation.

The lawmaker also said Wike had presented FCT budgets to lawmakers and had complied with legislative oversight in the funding of projects and programmes in Abuja.

Kingibe had said she discovered alleged borrowings while reviewing Debt Management Office information covering August 2023 to March 2026, and said she had not seen Wike appear before the Senate to seek loan approval.

The clarification keeps the dispute within the wider scrutiny of FCT project financing, legislative approvals and the role of National Assembly committees in supervising the territory’s budgets.

Sources: Punch, Vanguard and Daily Post