Civil servants dislike me for blocking corruption leakages — Wike
By Taiwo Scholarstica
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said his spending reforms are the reason he is unpopular among many civil servants, arguing that his administration has blocked channels previously used to divert public funds.
Wike made the remarks during his monthly media briefing on the state of the nation in Abuja on Thursday.
Addressing journalists, Wike explained that funds that were previously spent on foreign conferences and other activities have now been redirected to infrastructure projects, particularly road construction, to ensure residents benefit directly from government expenditure.
According to him, he has refused to approve what he considers unnecessary overseas trips and has instead prioritised projects with visible impact.
He said, “We waste our resources on frivolities, you expect me to approve funds for you to go for conference in America on land administration, what’s that? Go to Lagos and Port Harcourt, study how their own works or did not work and make a comparison here.”
Wike questioned the justification for spending millions of naira on foreign conferences, insisting that such resources could be put to better use.
“How do you encourage me to sign N20 million to travel to America for a conference of one week for land administration, I won’t do that,” he said.
The FCT minister explained that when he assumed office, recurrent expenditure accounted for the larger share of the territory’s budget, a trend he said was not sustainable for development.
“Before I came you had about 65 percent of the budget for recurrent expenditure. How would such society develop. I came onboard and said no, 70 per cent is for capital expenditure while 30 percent is for recurrent expenditure,” he stated.
Wike maintained that some conference-related expenditures had become avenues for misusing public funds and said his administration had redirected those resources to infrastructure projects that directly benefit residents.
“Some people say conferences for corruption and I say what is that? You are going for conferences to do what? These are ways government funds are being diverted. I say put this money in this road here and the people will get the impact,” he said.
The Minister acknowledged that his reforms had made him unpopular among civil servants but insisted the decisions were necessary to improve infrastructure across the Federal Capital Territory.
“And that’s why I can’t be popular among civil servants, if you ask anybody today, one Minister they won’t like is me. Why? Those money for conferences, I put the money together for roads,” he added.
Wike’s comments come amid continued discussions on public sector spending, accountability and the need to strike a balance between recurrent expenditure and capital development.
Since his appointment as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in August 2023 by President Bola Tinubu, Wike has focused on road construction, urban renewal, land administration reforms and improved service delivery.