The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, yesterday said the FCT Administration is expending N39 billion on the rehabilitation of the Abuja International Conference Centre.

He said this in Abuja yesterday when he inspected the ongoing renovation of the centre being executed by Julius Berger.

The minister recalled that President Bola Tinubu described the centre as an eyesore when he inaugurated the sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament on April 4, 2024.

He added that, thereafter, Tinubu directed that the centre should be shut down and mandated the FCTA to carry out a total rehabilitation of the conference centre.

Following the directive, Wike on April 8, 2024, ordered the suspension of all activities at the centre to enable the contractor to begin the rehabilitation.

The former Rivers State governor said the rehabilitation was necessary to give the country a befitting international conference centre.

He explained that the poor state of the centre had reduced it to a mere conference centre and not an international centre. He said: “We are giving Nigerian the best and we thanked President Tinubu for supporting the rehabilitation of the conference centre.”