By John Azu
The media team of African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to account for an alleged N3.84 billion spent on his monthly media chats.
In a statement on Tuesday, the team, through its spokesman, Paul Ibe, said Wike’s latest media chat in Abuja featured at least eight broadcast outlets: Arise News, Channels Television, TVC, News Central, AIT, JDK, Aso TV and Radio, and ADBN.
Ibe claimed that the broadcast stations charged between N10 million and N20 million per hour, with each session lasting about two hours. He estimated the total cost at between N160 million and N320 million monthly, amounting to N3.84 billion annually at the upper rate.
He argued that FCT residents deserved transparency over the expenditure and wanted to know how much airtime was devoted to the territory’s development, as opposed to Wike’s political disagreements with Atiku, former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Labour Party chieftain Peter Obi, the ADC and the New Democratic Congress (NDC).
“There is nothing wrong with a minister explaining his stewardship. But public resources must serve public purposes, not personal political battles,” he said.
Ibe added that political disputes should not overshadow the minister’s responsibility to address the concerns of residents, including roads, water supply, schools, hospitals, sanitation and security.
“Atiku and Amaechi are not infrastructure projects. ADC and NDC are not departments of the FCT Administration. The 2027 elections are no substitute for accountability on Abuja’s roads, water supply, schools, hospitals, sanitation and security,” he said.
He called on Wike to publish the invoices for the broadcasts, identify the stations paid, disclose the amounts involved and state the funding sources and relevant budget lines.
“FCT residents deserve to know whether their money is funding public accountability or political self-gratification.
“The FCT treasury is not Wike’s personal political broadcasting account. Public office is not a licence to convert public funds into private political publicity,” Ibe said.