The lawmaker representing the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), senatorial district, Senator Ireti Kingibe, has linked the worsening flooding in Abuja to construction on green areas, flood channels and flood plains, warning that blocked waterways are leaving rainwater with fewer routes to drain.

Speaking in an interview on ARISE NEWS on Monday, Senator Kingibe said she had written letters to relevant FCT agencies over the continued construction on green areas, flood channels and flood plains, condemning what she described as a departure from Abuja’s master plan.

“Most definitely. Some of the development approved under the current FCT administration is actually increasing Abuja’s flood risk. I’ve been singing the song about the green areas, the gullies, the flood channels, flood plains, because I see them being built on. I’ve been complaining that Development Control cannot give permission for these things to happen. But it’s happening, and this is the result. If you go to Wuse Zone 6, some sort of residential project is being built on the sewage line. The whole place stinks. So it’s a health risk,” she lamented.

She highlighted further: “A lot of the gullies, even in Asokoro, not too far from the home of the Senate President, there’s a flood channel that has been built on. There’s a whole list of them.

“Jabi Park is a park, a public park. Now, the greenery, even if you go around just on the side of the Shehu Yar’Adua Center, there’s a gully there, a very deep one, that has now been fenced off to be used for something, I don’t know what.

“So at the end of the day, when it rains, especially as there are rocks all around Abuja, when the water starts coming down, there’s nowhere for them to flow into because all their paths are closed. Even the flood channels that are not completely closed off have become so narrow that the water can’t really properly pass. So you can’t construct on every space in a city, especially since the city had a master plan that totally contradicts that.

“My letter was to Development Control, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, as well as the FCDA, because they are the primary agencies whose responsibility it is to take care of these problems,” she said.

The FCT senator stressed that her concerns about Abuja’s infrastructure predated her disagreements with the FCT Minister, saying she had raised concerns about green areas and the potential for flooding long before the current situation emerged. According to her, her interventions were driven by the need to protect her constituents and were not motivated by any personal dispute with the Minister.

“From the beginning, I’ve always reiterated and said there’s been no reason for there to be political conflict on my part. Last December, I complained about green areas and potential for flooding. Even a year before that, I made several complaints before these things started materializing. Maybe as an engineer, I could see the potential. When I first became a senator, I called the head of Development Control and spoke to him about these concerns. So it’s not personal to the minister. It’s just that everything that impacts negatively on my constituents, I need to take it up with somebody, and he’s the person who is giving the direct approval for some of these things. But it’s not about shutting me up. The people’s welfare… They voted for me and the House of Reps members, there are only three of us representing them. When they have these issues, the first person they start screaming for is me,” she clarified.

Sharing details of her letter to the FCDA, Senator Kingibe said she had asked the agency to outline the short- and long-term measures it intended to take to address Abuja’s flooding problems, stressing that the relevant authorities must be held accountable for developments and planning decisions that have contributed to the situation.

“I didn’t specify in this first letter. I told them that this is a problem, and I want you to tell me what you intend to do about it in the short term and the long term. After their response, I expect that they, unlike the minister, will not ignore my letter. But this agency is direct, and when they don’t respond, then I can take on the chairman of the FCT Committee over all the things that are going on in the FCT.”

Acknowledging that Abuja’s flooding problem predates the current administration, Kingibe said successive ministers contributed to the loss of green areas, but maintained that the situation had been significantly worsened over the past three to four years under the Nyesom Wike administration.

“Obviously, yes, there was a problem. It didn’t start with him, but he has definitely exacerbated that problem immensely,” she stated.

On immediate measures, Kingibe called for the clearing of rubbish and drains to prevent waste from blocking waterways during heavy rainfall. She also urged the authorities to address long-standing deficiencies in Abuja’s sewage and drainage systems, stressing the need for urgent, holistic solutions beyond politics.

“One of the things I would suggest right away, between now and the next rains, I think that the huge pile of rubbish all over the place should be cleared. Some of the drains might be cleared, because the truth is that if you’ve got a pile of trash anywhere and it rains, it’s going to take it all into and block the drains even more. So that is even one small thing that they can start doing to begin with.

“Just before I became senator or after, I had come across a document complaining about the fact that our sewage system, drainages, all those things were in dire need of servicing and just to be looked at. Those were some of the things, because at that time there was no minister when I first became a senator, I had drawn the attention of some of the FCDA agency heads that I sat with, just as the senator representing FCT.

“Abuja Environmental Protection Board must have its own issues why a lot of things are not happening. We need to sit down realistically, holistically, put aside politics, and look at urgent solutions,” she urged.

Kingibe also called on the National Assembly to strengthen its oversight of the FCT in response to the flooding, urging lawmakers to take the issue seriously rather than dismissing her concerns as a personal dispute with Minister Wike.

“I’m hoping that the floods of Abuja will move the National Assembly, that’s the oversight body for FCDA, FCT, and everything, to take a closer look as opposed to… and be more diligent, as opposed to, ‘Oh, there goes Senator Kingibe again trying to harass poor Honorable Minister Wike.'”

Speaking on the ADC’s defeat in the Osun State election, Kingibe said the opposition party should, in retrospect, have collaborated with the incumbent Accord Party candidate rather than fielding its own candidate.

"If you want my personal opinion, I think that we should have collaborated with the incumbent accord party. But that was not my decision to make,” she said.

Adding, Senator Kingibe argued that opposition parties need to unite to succeed, saying she believed the same approach should apply at the national level.

“I only knew that there was an incumbent senator who was already in opposition, and I’m a firm believer that for the opposition to succeed, we need to all gang up. And that would have been an opportunity to gang up with him. I hope it will happen at the national level too,” she remarked. (AriseNews TV)

Update news