The Minister of the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, has renamed the Abuja International Conference Centre after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking during the official commissioning of the newly upgraded facility on Tuesday in Abuja, Wike announced that the centre will now be known as the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre.
The unveiling is part of activities to celebrate the president’s second year in office.
He also named some of the halls after Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.
This, according to him, is to thank them for supporting the FCT Administration and to demonstrate the cordial working relationship among the Executive, Judiciary, and the Legislative arms of government.
He recalled that the conference centre was built in 1991 under the military government, adding that the centre has not been rehabilitated since then.
Wike added that following President Tinubu’s quality leadership, his matching order to rehabilitate the centre has transformed the edifice to a befitting conference centre, which demonstrates that Nigeria is truly the giant of Africa.
“Today, Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre is a match with any other international conference centre in the world,” he said.
The minister, however, said that to maintain the facility, everybody who intends to use the conference centre must pay.
He described the structure as world-class and emphasised the need for regular maintenance.
“I want to let everybody know, whether you are a ministry, whether you are an agency, if you want to use this, you have to pay something.
“Nothing like my brother, my sister has a wedding. If you want to use such a beautiful place, then you must pay something,” he added.
He thanked Tinubu for encouraging him to go ahead with the rehabilitation and ignore the detractors, saying, “If not for your kind of person, we would not have done this work.”
On his part, the Senate President, Godwill Akpabio, commended Wike for the renovation, rehabilitation, and transformation of the International Conference Centre.
“We are proud of the fact that we do the budgeting, we give the approvals, and you do the execution,” he said.
The iconic facility, built by Julius Berger Nigeria PLC in 1990 and completed in time for the 1991 OAU Heads of Government meeting, has long served as a venue for government functions, international summits, exhibitions, and corporate events.
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