Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on Monday inaugurated newly elected area council chairmen for the FCT and warned that lax administration, recurring labour strikes and financial mismanagement at the local level would no longer be tolerated.
Wike congratulated the new officials who emerged from February’s council polls and described their assumption of office as the start of “a vital new era of grassroots leadership.”
He said celebratory rhetoric must give way to measurable results.
In a statement by the Deputy Director of Press in the Minister’s office Rabi Musa, Wike said “It will no longer be business as usual.”
The Minister explained that elected officials have a “covenant” with voters who fulfilled their civic duty.
“It is time to work for your people,” he noted.
The Minister outlined a series of administrative and financial directives intended to tighten provenance over council expenditures.
While he pledged not to tamper with statutory allocations to area councils, Minister Wike said the FCT Administration would monitor how “every Naira is spent.”
He reiterated longstanding public-service controls on local-government bank accounts, reminding chairmen that they lack authority to sign checks and must not direct cash withdrawals.
“Let no chairman put himself in trouble by signing checks for withdrawal of money,” he said, warning that evidence of financial malfeasance would be referred to anti-graft agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Minister Wike also criticized recurring strikes by the National Union of Local Government Employees and primary-school teachers, which have in the past disrupted education and required FCTA interventions to cover salaries and school rehabilitation.
He tasked the new chairmen with seeking durable solutions to those labor disputes.
In another directive, the Minister ordered chairmen to reside in the councils they administer rather than in the city center or hotels, linking physical presence to improved local security intelligence and responsiveness.
“Stay where you were elected and perform your work,” he said.
To incentivize performance, the FCT administration will recognize and reward councils that deliver peace and infrastructure. Minister Wike urged chairmen to adopt short-term benchmarks—100-day targets and one-year goals—and to prioritize youth and women’s empowerment and monthly stakeholder briefings to sustain public trust.
The Minister described his expectations against his own political trajectory from local council chairman to Gobernor and Federal Minister,
He also touted an acceleration in FCTA infrastructure completions, noting that project commissioning days rose from nine in 2024 to 19 in 2025 and 31 in 2026.
Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, Minister of State for the FCT, said the inauguration signaled renewed commitment to accountability and inclusive growth at the grassroots.
Justice Belgore of the FCT High Court administered the oath of office.
