Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has described the infrastructural uplift of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, in three years as unprecedented, declaring that even the harshest critics of the FCT Minister Barr Nyesom Wike must concede that he has changed the landscape of the territory.
Lokpobiri spoke on Tuesday after joining Wike on an inspection of ongoing projects in the nation's capital, including the construction of bridges on the ISEX 2 road from the Area 1 roundabout to the Games Village, the Southern Parkway linking Oladipo Diya Road with Lokogoma Road, and the S1 road at the Fire Station in Gaduwa.
Lokpobiri, who admitted living in Abuja for about 19 years, said the pace of work left him stunned. He said he came to Abuja in 2007, when he was elected senator, and has not seen anything like the current level of development in the territory.
"I never believed in my wildest dream that the roads that were flagged off in July, we have already seen the level of completion," he said.
He said he has been in Abuja for about 19 years now, and the level of development is unprecedented. Those who are journalists in Abuja can attest to the fact that even if one does not like the FCT Minister, one will give it to him that he will do the infrastructure, and even they too will benefit from it.
The minister said that although he lives at the National Assembly quarters in Apo, only about two kilometres from one of the bridges, he had no idea the project was under construction. He disclosed that when he joined Wike to go around these projects this morning, he was wondering when the bridge started, because he stays in the National Assembly quarters in Apo that is just about two kilometres away, and he never knew that this project was going on.
He congratulated Wike and President Bola Tinubu, whom he credited with giving the FCT minister the backing needed to deliver. He told Nigerians that when somebody is performing, you need to encourage the person, and that is the least that one can do. Even if one does not like him, one will give it to him that he has changed the landscape of Abuja, and it can only get better and better.
The road projects are scheduled for commissioning next month and in January 2027.