Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said the ongoing dualisation of Kuje township road, from Tipper garage to LEA Secretariat when completed will boost economic activities in the area.
The minister disclosed this on Thursday after inspecting the project, being executed by Gilmor Engineering Nig. Ltd, in Kuje.
According to him, the road which will be completed in December will boost economic activities in the area and ease the movement of people, goods and services from Kuje to Gwagwalada.
He added that due to the importance of the road to the residents of Kuje, the FCT Administration had extended the project from LEA Secretariat to Gwagwalada.
It would be recalled that the Minister had in February 2024 awarded the contract to Gilmor as part of President Bola Tinubu administration to take development to rural communities.
He said: “The dualisation of the road in Kuje centre will also be handed over to us by December. We have directed the contractor to continue the dualisation from Kuje to Gwagwalada to ease transportation difficulties for residents going to Gwagwalada.
“This will not only reduce the distance, but also impact positively on the economies of Kuje area council.”
The Minister who assured that the construction of the six-lane dual carriage way from Airport Road to Kuje, being executed by Arab Contractors, was also going on as scheduled, also commended the pace of the work, adding that the contractor has promised to finish all earth work by end of the year.
The minister while commenting on the resources for all completed and ongoing projects in the city centre and area councils, the minister identified strategy and prudent management of available resources, also added that most of the funds were from FCT’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR),
He said: “It is a matter of strategy and a matter of being prudent with available resources. No government or institution can say they will have all the required resources to be able to carry out every service. But what is important to us is that we try to make sure people pay their taxes.
“One thing I can tell you about Nigerians is that when they see that the taxes they pay are being utilized, they reciprocate that by making sure that they pay their taxes but when they see that they pay taxes and nothing is done with it, they will be reluctant to pay.
“We are trying as much as we can to continue to increase our IGR. It is our IGR that we are using to pay. There is no any other money coming from anywhere. And again, we are strict on the number of projects and we ensure that we have gone far before awarding another project and that the funding is available so that it does not become an abandoned project. So, it is not that we have much money but it is just that we are trying to prudently manage what we have and apply it to the best interest of our people.”
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