The goal, according to Wike, is to transform the facility into a befitting International Conference Centre that Nigerians will be proud of.
By Jeffrey Agbo
FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has suspended all events at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
Wike announced the closure after inspecting the facility on Monday.
He explained that the suspension was to enable Julius Berger to carry out holistic rehabilitation of the centre.
The minister earlier terminated the contract of Messrs Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd, assigned to manage the centre.
Director of Press, Office of the Minister, Anthony Ogunleye, who announced the development on April 4, added that Julius Berger had been contracted for the immediate renovation of the centre.
After going round the facility, the minister described it as a mere conference centre, “There is nothing international about the centre.
“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.”
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Wike added that the FCT Administration would not continue to be embarrassed by the poor state of the centre.
“So, we are sorry to announce this; every booking made here is cancelled. We will start immediate rehabilitation of the centre to meet up with international standards,” the minister said.
He said that Julius Berger had been given eight months to complete the total renovation of the centre.
The goal, according to Wike, is to transform the facility into a befitting International Conference Centre that Nigerians will be proud of.
He said that Julius Berger was called back to rehabilitate the centre because it was the company that built the edifice.
On the management of the facility when the rehabilitation is completed, Wike said that the Managing Director of Abuja Investment Company (AIC), Amb. Maureen Tamuno knows what to do.