The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesome Wike, in the quest to restore the International Conference Centre (ICC), lost glory, has ordered the immediate cancellation of all events scheduled to take place at the facility for the next eight months. This was followed after a thorough inspection on Monday by Wike alongside top management staff of the FCT Administration, he expressed displeasure over the dilapidated state of the ICC. He said that the suspension enabled Julius Berger to carry out holistic rehabilitation of the centre.
Recall the minister had earlier terminated the contract of Messrs Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd, assigned to manage the centre. The Director of Press, Office of the Minister, Anthony Ogunleye, who announced the development on April 4, added that Julius Berger had been contracted for the immediate renovation of the centre.
“When we came here for the ECOWAS inauguration sometime last week, with President Bola Tinubu, no right-thinking human being would see the state of this facility and be happy.“In fact, during the inauguration, Tinubu drew my attention to the rot. Even the lighting system was so poor.
“This is unacceptable. There is no way we can accept this as an International Conference Centre.“You cannot call it a conference centre but not international, because there is no standard compared to any international conference centre.
He added that the FCT Administration would not continue to be embarrassed by the poor state of the centre.“So, we are sorry to announce this; every booking made here is cancelled.“We will start immediate rehabilitation of the centre to meet up with international standards,” the minister said.
He said that Julius Berger had been given eight months to complete the total renovation of the centre. The goal, according to him, is to transform the facility into a befitting International Conference Centre that Nigerians will be proud of.
He said that Julius Berger was called back to rehabilitate the centre because the company built the tower.“We believed that in the next seven to eight months, the company would do something that Nigerians and the international community would appreciate,” he said.
On the management of the centre, if the rehabilitation was completed, Wike said that the Managing Director of Abuja Investment Company (AIC), Amb. Maureen Tamuno knows what to do.
“If she does not do it well, well, we will have no choice but to wade the big stick; but I believe she has the capacity to run it well,” the minister said.
He explained that he would not probe anybody on what led to the rot of the centre, but to move on, get the job done and give the country a befitting international conference centre.
