ICC Shutdown For 8 Months For Renovation – Wike

Worried by the delapitating state of facilities in the International Conference Centre, ICC, the FCT Administration is to shutdown the Centre for massive renovation.

Minister of FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike who dropped the hint in Abuja, while inspecting the facility, said the administration hopes to give the edifice a facelift within the next eight months.

Wike who described the current state of the ICC as an eyesore reiterated the readiness of FCTA to upgrade it to World Class Standard in line with President Tinubu’s desire.

To this end, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike directed that all activities scheduled to hold at the International Conference Centre for the next eight months be cancelled to give room for smooth renovation without disruption.

He expressed disappointment at the poor maintenance, and wondered why the contract of such an edifice was given to an incompetent firm.

He noted that the nation has faced avoidable embarrassments before the international community while using the facility as a result of power outages, poor cooling system and facility decay.

“When we came here for the ECOWAS inauguration sometime last week, with President Bola Tinubu, no right-thinking human being would see the state of this facility and be happy. In fact, during the inauguration, Tinubu drew my attention to the rot. Even the lighting system was so poor”.

“This is unacceptable. There is no way we can accept this as an International Conference Centre.You can call it a conference centre, but not international, because there is no standard compared to any international conference centre”.

“So, we are sorry to announce this, every booking made here is cancelled. We will start immediate rehabilitation of the centre to meet international standards”.

According to Wike, the contract had been awarded to julius Berger who were the initial contractors that handled the ICC project.

The facility will be handed back to the Abuja Investment Company Limited after the completion of renovation works.

“We believe that in the next seven to eight months, we will be able to do something that people will appreciate…the FCDA will now take over the rehabilitation with Julius Berger, and then hand over to Abuja Investment Company”.

Responding to questions on whether he will probe the contractor, Wike said “I am not here to probe anybody, I don’t want to begin to find excuses why the jobs are not doing well. The Managing Director of Abuja Investment Company knows what to do, mine is to give the country a befitting International Conference Centre.”

“And if she does not do it well, we have no choice but to wade the big stick, but I believe she has the capacity to run it well”, Wike said.

Remi Johnson, Edited By Grace Namiji