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| From left: Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan being welcomed by Miss Moren Zakka, a Gbagyi indigene, in the Federal Capital Territory during the commissioning of the FCT Ultra-Modern Youth Support Centre, Nyanya, Abuja yesterday |
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
yesterday backed the proposed building for the African First Ladies Peace
Mission (AFLPM) which will gulp the sum of N4 billion, and the construction of
the official residence of Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo at the cost of
N16 billion as provided for in the budget, adding that the construction of the
official residence of the vice president was occasioned by the changes in the
redesigning of the project.
The party also denied that the
Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) budgeted the sum of N7 billion
for the construction of two Abuja City gates and N5 billion for the
rehabilitation of commercial sex workers, stressing that such budgetary
provision was not in the 2013 FCTA budget.
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and
Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) had accused FCTA of budgeting the sum of
N7 billion for the construction of two Abuja city gates; N5 billion for the
rehabilitation of commercial sex workers and N4 billion for the construction of
First Lady’s Office. They also claimed that the FCTA padded the budget for the
construction of the Vice President’s official residence.
However, in a statement by the
party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, the PDP described the
criticism of the opposition parties as fallacious and wicked, adding that their
media publications were aimed at discrediting the PDP-led Federal Capital
Territory Administration under Senator Bala Mohammed.
“Contrary to the odious and
deliberate distortion of facts by the opposition, the building is not for the
Nigerian First Lady. The complex on completion is to host the AFLPM which has
the backing of the African Union as an instrument for championing women and
youth development. The Peace Mission House is a public institution, a building
in the likes of the Women Development Centre, Nigerian Cultural Centre, among
others, which the law empowers the FCTA to build and operate in provision of
facilities for the advancement of its development efforts. It will go a long
way in reducing the financial burden in rents for international bodies hosted
by the country.
“Similarly, the increment in the
budget of the official residence of the vice president was occasioned by the
changes in the redesigning, expertly advised to take care of emerging security
challenges. The house is not for the exclusive benefit of the current Vice
President as the malicious propaganda of the opposition has been feeding the
public with,” the PDP said.
Source: Blueprint
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