By Stanley Onyekwere
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has inaugurated the newly elected FCT Area Council Chairmen, declaring an end to administrative laxity, incessant labour strikes, and financial unaccountability at the local government level.
Speaking during the inauguration ceremony held at the FCDA Conference Hall in Abuja on Monday, Wike congratulated the new leaders on their victory at the FCT Area Council polls held in February, noting that their assumption of office ushers in a vital new era of grassroots leadership.
He however,warned the Chairmen that the celebration was over and the real work should begin. Reminding them of the solemn covenant they made with the electorate, he stated that the days of treating public office as a mere title were over.
“It will no longer be business as usual”, Barr. Wike cautioned. “Your people listened to you and they all came out to vote for you. Remember, you have a covenant with the people.
” The people have performed their own civic obligation. You owe a duty to them to make them feel the impact of governance. It’s not to wear your traditional clothes; it is time to work for your people,” the Minister reaffirmed.
According to a statement by Deputy Director, Press,
(Office of the Hon. Minister), Rabi Musa Umar, in a major policy directive, Wike announced tight fiscal monitoring over local government funds.
While promising never to tamper with their allocations, he emphasized that the FCT Administration will closely monitor how every Naira is spent.
He strictly reminded the newly inaugurated leaders of public service rules governing local government finances, stressing that no Executive Chairman has the authority to directly sign checks.
“Some of you here operate accounts. No Executive Chairman is allowed to sign checkbooks. Your own is to approve.
“That’s why we have civil servants who are signatories to the accounts of Area Councils. Let no Chairman put himself in trouble by signing checks for withdrawal of money. You don’t have the authority.
“This is not the time you tell your treasurer or head of local government to meet you in a hotel, or ask, ‘How much do we have? Remove this, keep this for me, I’m traveling tomorrow’. It will no longer happen. Please hear it now: if I know, I will call EFCC, I will call ICPC to look into your matter,” he stated.
The Minister expressed deep dissatisfaction with the perennial strikes by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and primary school teachers, which have historically paralyzed local education and governance. He noted that the FCTA has repeatedly borne the burden of bailing out Area Councils to pay teachers’ salaries and rehabilitate schools, and tasked the new chairmen with finding permanent solutions to these labor disputes.
Wike further ordered the Chairmen to immediately halt the practice of abandoning their domains to reside in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) or luxury city hotels, linking their physical presence to local security intelligence.
“Stay where you were elected and perform your work. Don’t tell your people, ‘come and see me in the city’’. You were not elected in the city. Stay at home so that your people can carry their problems to you.
“Stay at home so that you will know where kidnappers and bandits are operating from. If you are not at home, you won’t know where the problems come from. You must stay at home and give information to security agencies, the FCT Ministers, and the FCTA”, Barr. Wike ordered.
To foster performance, the Minister announced that the FCTA will reward Councils that distinguish themselves in governance. He said any Area Council adjudged as the most peaceful, or ranked highest in providing basic infrastructure, will receive special rewards from the Administration.
He also challenged the new leaders to use his own career trajectory which saw him climbing from a Local Government Council Chairman to a Governor and two-time Minister, as an inspiration.
Pointing to the FCTA’s rapid infrastructure delivery, which grew from a 9-day project commissioning streak in 2024, to 19 days in 2025, and an unprecedented 31 days in 2026, he urged them to set immediate 100-day and 1-year benchmarks.
He also counselled them to empower youth and women, and to hold monthly stakeholder briefings to maintain public trust.
Earlier in her remarks, the FCT Minister of State, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, noted that the ceremony marked a renewed commitment to accountability, service, and inclusive growth at the grassroots.
She congratulated the newly inaugurated Chairmen and their deputies and encouraged them to justify the confidence reposed in them by the electorate through purposeful leadership, transparency, and people-centered governance. “May your tenure be defined by unity, innovation, and sustainable development”, Dr Mahmoud stated.
The oath of office was administered on the Chairmen by Justice Belgore of the FCT High Court.
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