By Jude Opara
Ahead of the forthcoming FCT Area Council elections, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has endorsed the re-election bid of the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship candidate for the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Christopher Maikalangu.
The endorsement came yesterday during the flag-off of a 7-kilometre road project in Tunga Madaki, where Wike directly linked the government’s development efforts to electoral support in return.
The project, which includes four-span bridges and will connect nine settlements to the Abuja Airport via Bill Clinton Drive, fulfills a promise made during the land acquisition for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport’s second runway.
Wike explained that although the land belongs to the FCT, the Aviation Ministry had to pay compensation, during which the affected communities demanded road access as a condition.
“It was quite unfair that people would surrender their ancestral land for a national project like a second runway, yet they had no access road, even to the airport they gave land for.
“So, I took the matter to Mr. President, and he said, ‘Whatever they ask for, give it to them.’ Today, we are here to fulfill that promise,” he said.
The FCT minister stated that the road construction would be completed and commissioned by June 2026, to coincide with the third anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“This is a government that listens, a government that keeps its promises. For the first time in your lives, you asked for one thing, and the government responded. That is what the Renewed Hope Agenda is all about,” he said.
Addressing the excited crowd, Wike lauded Maikalangu, whom he described as a tireless advocate for the Tunga Madaki community.
“Maikalangu has never stopped reminding me about the promise made to you during the land compensation process.
“He kept pressing,
