By Festus Fifen.

FCT Ministers Barr. Nyesome Wike has ordered the immediate rehabilitation of the Abuja International Conference  Center (AICC) over what he describes as the poor maintenance of the facility.

Speaking after a brief tour of the facility in Abuja on Monday, the Minister said the facility has become an embarrassment to the Nation because of the poor maintenance and subsequently ordered the immediate cancellation of all events scheduled to hold at the AICC  for the next Eight Months when the renovations must have been completed.

Recall that Wike had revoked the contract of the previous contractors, Messrs Integrated Facility Management Services Limited, and awarded the contract to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, for “the immediate comprehensive renovation” of the ICC.

The Minister expressed his disappointment with the previous management of the facility, noting that the centre had been left to dilapidation to a point where it could not be regarded as an International Centre.

He added that the project had been duly handed over to the original designers of the facility, Messrs Julius Berger Limited, to renovate, before it will be handed over to the Management of the Abuja Investment Company Limited.

In his words, “We have gone round; you and I know that it is unacceptable. No way we can accept this as an international conference centre. You can call this a conference centre, but not international. We cannot continue to be embarrassed in this way. So, we are sorry to announce this, every booking meant to be used here is cancelled. Because we will start immediate rehabilitation of this centre, to meet up with international standards.

We have called the original contractor that built this edifice, that is Julius Berger, to come back, because if we had brought a new contractor, it would take us time. We believe that in the next seven to eight months, we will be able to do something that people will appreciate. And then that means the FCDA will now take over the rehabilitation with Julius Berger, and then hand over to Abuja Investment Company”

“I’m not here to probe anybody, I don’t want to begin to find excuses why the jobs are not doing well. The Managing Director of Abuja Investment Company knows what to do, mine is to give the country a befitting International Conference Centre. And if she does not do it well, we have no choice but to wave the big stick, but I believe she has the capacity to run it well”, Wike said.

Speaking earlier during the inspection tour,   the Managing Director of the Abuja Investment Company Ltd, Dr. Maureen Tamuno said the company which took over the maintenance of the facility since 2005 has not remitted any amount to the government since 2020 when the contract was renewed for another ten years.

Though there are insinuations that the decision to renovate the Abuja International Conference Center is a fallout of the recent  Visit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu  to the AICC during the Ecowas Parliament meeting held at the venue where he complained about the deplorable state of the facility.