The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Ireti Kingibe has spoken out on the perceived rift between her and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Kingibe said she had no problem with the FCT Minister, but maintained the emphasis must be on the separation of powers between that of the Minister and the elected representatives of the FCT.
She said the FCT Minister, like other Ministers must recognize the supervisory functions of the National Assembly over their ministries, while at the same time calling for a re-examination of the functions of the FCT as a region in Nigeria.
She is quoted as saying:
It is important to recognize that the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, operates differently from other regions; here, the highest elected official is the Senator, as opposed to a governor.
Moreover, we only have two representatives in the House of Representatives. The division of powers between the executive and the legislature in the FCT is ambiguous and warrants careful examination.
It is imperative for every minister to recognize that the National Assembly and its members have a supervisory role over their actions. This oversight appears to be the crux of the current contention.
Recall that Senator Ireti Kingibe and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike have been at loggerheads over the perceived manner Wike had been carrying out his functions in the FCT. It is alleged that Wike operates as if he is a Governor with no supervisory authority in the FCT.
Wike, a former Governor of Rivers State, goes about his duties with the paraphernalia of a subnational state Government. This has raised some questions on the true status of the FCT is in the power equation in Nigeria.
There have been insinuations that Wike was deliberately ignoring the Senator Ireti Kingibe while carrying along Philip Aduda, who was the former Senator representing the FCT in the National Assembly. Aduda lost his re-election bid to the tsunami of the Labour Party which presented Ireti Kingibe as its candidate in the 2023 elections.
