Ireti Kingibe, senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), says she repeatedly raised concerns over flooding and blocked drainage channels in Abuja before the latest deluge.
On Saturday, residents of the FCT were left stranded after heavy rainfall triggered flooding that submerged vehicles in parts of the nation’s capital.
Speaking on Monday on Prime Time, an Arise Television programme, Kingibe said her concerns over potential flooding to Nyesom Wike, minister of the FCT, were ignored.
The senator said she had always advocated cooperation between elected officials and ministers regardless of political affiliations.
“From the beginning, I’ve always said there has been no reason for there to be political conflict on my part. I’m used to an Abuja where senators and ministers don’t necessarily come from the same party but have worked together in the interest of the people,” she said.
Kingibe added that she spoke about the eroding of green areas and the potential for flooding as far back as December, stating that she had also made several complaints about the issue a year earlier.
The lawmaker noted that she had contacted the head of development control when she first assumed office to draw attention to the situation.
The senator said her criticism was not targeted at Wike personally, but was driven by her responsibility to constituents whenever issues affected their welfare.
“As an engineer, I could see the potential. When I first became a senator, Lugbe flooded very badly. I went and looked at the flood channels and some of them even had houses inside them. That’s scary. So, somebody must have given approval,” she said.
“It’s not personal to the minister. It’s just that everything that impacts negatively on my constituents, I need to take it up with somebody, and he’s the person who is giving the direct approval for some of these things.”
Kingibe said she deliberately reduced her public criticism of the minister in an attempt to encourage cooperation but that the approach had not worked.
The senator said she had written to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to demand an explanation of what the agency intended to do about the flooding and related infrastructure concerns.
She said her initial letter did not prescribe specific measures, such as an audit of drainage infrastructure or demolition of structures, but asked the agency to identify the problems and explain the immediate steps it planned to take.
“As I have said in some of my videos, I even tried to be less publicly critical of him to see if that would make him work with me in a manner that’s in the best interest of the constituents. Nothing works,” she said.
“But it’s not about shutting me up. It’s not about any of those things. It’s about the people’s welfare. They voted for me and the house of representatives members.”
Kingibe said she expected the agency to respond to her letter, unlike the minister, whom she accused of failing to respond to her correspondence.
She added that the senate committee on the FCT has a responsibility to exercise oversight over agencies responsible for the administration and development of the capital.
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“That’s why I don’t bother to write to him, because he never responds. But this agency, it’s directly. And when they don’t respond, then I can now take on the chairman of the FCT committee over all the things that are going on in the FCT,” she said. Cable
