By PHILIP YATAI

The newly rehabilitated Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, has generated more than N700 million in three weeks.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, disclosed this on Sunday, during a Thanksgiving Service at St. James’ Anglican Church, Asokoro, Abuja.

The thanksgiving was for the successful completion of project inaugurations by President Bola Tinubu to celebrate his second year in office.

Wike disclosed that the person that was managing the centre before the rehabilitation was remitting only N50 million to the FCT Administration annually.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls the public uproar when Wike announced that N39 billion was earmarked for the rehabilitation to upgrade the centre to international standard.

The minister said that the move was finally paying off, with more than N700 million so far generated in just three weeks after it was reopened for public use.

“When we visited the centre in 2024, Tinubu described the centre as an eyesore, stressing that this is not the international conference centre that Nigeria should be presenting to the global community and directed that we rehabilitate the edifice.

“We shut the place down and within seven months we rehabilitated the centre.

“The shocking thing is that the man who was running it from Adamawa was paying the government N50 million a year.

“But in just three weeks that we opened it after the renovation, we have made over N700 million,” he said.

He added that when the FCT Administration took over the centre to carry out the rehabilitation, the person that was managing it called him all kinds of names.

The minister said that when he decided he would not allow the centre to be run down, some people painted all kinds of pictures and told all kinds of stories.

“These are people who claim that they want to rescue Nigeria,” he said.

He called on Nigerians to disregard people who had opportunities to be in government for several years but could not facilitate critical infrastructure in their states.

Wike explained that the thanksgiving service became necessary to thank God for the successful inauguration of 17 projects in 16 days by Tinubu to celebrate his second year in office.

“It was not easy. Nobody lost his life, no accident going from here to outside the city – Kwali, Gwagwalada and Bwari. It has not been easy.

“We thank God for the grace; we thank God for the strength given to all of us. It’s teamwork and we did it successfully,” he said. (NAN)