Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike has launched a fresh attack on Senator Ireti Kingibe, accusing her of failing to deploy her position in the National Assembly to address the challenges confronting FCT residents.

Wike said Kingibe should stop seeking public attention through media appearances and demonstrate her impact by sponsoring bills and speaking on issues affecting her constituents.

He spoke after inspecting areas affected by floods in Maitama District and other parts of Abuja.

Kingibe, the senator representing the FCT, had called for greater cooperation between her office and the FCT Administration in tackling flooding, regulating development and addressing other environmental challenges in Abuja.

But Wike rejected her suggestion , insisting that his mandate was to work with all stakeholders in the territory and not one individual.

“I was not appointed to work with only one particular person. I work with everybody,” he said,

The minister questioned why Kingibe, as a federal legislator, had not used her position to propose laws or policies capable of addressing the problems she highlighted.

“If she knows that there’s a problem, she’s the one who makes the law. National Assembly is our own House of Assembly. Why is that every time he talks about ‘working with her, working with her, working with her’?” Wike asked.

He challenged the senator to tell Abuja residents what she had achieved in the National Assembly, particularly through bills, motions and legislative initiatives directed at solving problems in the FCT.

“The Senator should go and talk to the people! Tell them what she is doing in the National Assembly! Tell them the bill she has proposed for the benefit of the residents of Abuja,” the minister said.

According to him, legislators should be judged by their contributions to debates, legislation and constituency engagements rather than television appearances and public criticism of government.

The minister also linked Kingibe’s criticism of the FCT Administration to the forthcoming elections, alleging that she was becoming politically vulnerable and was seeking to regain public support.

He said: “You(Kingibe) have done nothing, and the people know you(Kingibe) have done nothing. Even if you(Kingibe) like, criticise. As far as this flooding is concerned, the people have made up their mind that you(Kingibe) failed.

“I don’t blame her now, because she has almost lost the election. All she’s doing next is to see whether she can get the people.”

Wike also declared that criticism from his political opponents would not stop the FCT Administration from enforcing planning and environmental regulations.

Wike also dismissed allegations that the FCT Administration had allocated designated waterways to politicians for estate development.

He described the allegation as false and challenged anyone making such claims to produce evidence showing that a particular water channel had been allocated to a named politician for development.

“I want to deny categorically that this administration allocates water channel way for people to go and develop,” he said.The minister argued that critics were not in a position to determine what constituted a waterway under the Abuja Master Plan.

“You cannot determine which area is a water channel to FCT. You cannot determine for us! You don’t know the master plan more than us!” he said.

He urged those making allegations of political allocation of waterways to produce documents instead of making what he described as sweeping claims.

“If anybody has one, come out with it to prove to Nigerians, ‘This is a water channel way, and it has been allocated to Mr Z, and approved for Mr Z to build something,’” Wike said.

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“Not just to go and make a blanket statement, ‘Anything now, allocated to politicians.’ Who are the politicians? Do they have no name?” (The Nation)

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