Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said the FCT administration will celebrate FCT at 50 during the third anniversary of President Bola Tinubu.

Mr Wike disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday during a meeting with members of staff of the FCT Administration as part of activities to celebrate the territory’s golden jubilee.

He said that a committee would soon be inaugurated to plan the FCT golden jubilee and Mr Tinubu’s third anniversary

The minister, who thanked God that FCT clocked 50 years during his time as minister, said that a compendium for the golden jubilee would be unveiled during the celebration in three months’ time.

He said that the transformation in the FCT and other achievements recorded in the last two and a half years wouldn’t have been possible if not for the support of Mr Tinubu.

He argued that infrastructural development in the FCT was slow until Mr Tinubu removed the administration from the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which enabled access to funding to execute life-impacting projects across the territory.

“Every time we say, for years, no infrastructure. Why would there be infrastructure when there’s something restraining you, but removing FCT from TSA allows the administration to access funding from commercial banks.

“Today, everybody is saying there’s massive infrastructural development. If that was not made possible, we would still be hanging around; we would still be saying nothing is going on.

“So, we must appreciate somebody who has laid the foundation for us to get to where we are,” he said.

He pointed out that beyond infrastructural transformation, workers of the FCT Administration had equally recorded a milestone under Mr Tinubu, particularly in career progression to permanent secretaries or Head of FCT Civil Service.

“Ministers have come and gone; presidents have come and gone but no one made this possible except Tinubu.

“Today, every worker is happy that there’s hope that they can be a permanent secretary. There’s hope they can be a head of service.

“This is not easy to achieve but somebody made it possible,” he said.

Earlier, Richard Dauda, the acting executive S

Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), said that the level of achievements recorded within the last two and half years in infrastructural development was unprecedented in the 50-year history of the FCT and the FCDA.

He said that at the inception of the current FCT Administration in August 2023, a number of projects were inherited from previous administrations.

“Many of these projects have now been completed and inaugurated while the remaining few have been taken to an appreciable level of completion.

“This is as a result of the commitment, dedication and proactive drive of the leadership of the current Administration under Wike,” he said.

He said that Mr Wike had inaugurated about nine projects during the first-year anniversary of Mr Tinubu in 2024 and 17 projects in 2025 during the second-year anniversary.

Mr Dauda expressed confidence that with the number of ongoing projects being planned for inauguration to mark Mr Tinubu’s third anniversary, “it is likely to hit 50 projects inaugurated since Wike assumed duty as FCT minister in August 2023

(NAN)