The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has announced that the newly refurbished Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja is fully booked through 2027.
President Tinubu officially inaugurated the upgraded facility on June 10, 2025, marking his second anniversary in office.
Although the N39 billion renovation drew criticism, most notably from former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, who argued the funds could have been better utilised in education, its popularity is now evident, according to Wike.
Speaking during the opening of the Kugbo Bus Terminal in Abuja on Thursday, the minister noted that even the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review had applied to use the venue but found no available slots.
“You know, Nigerians pretend. They like good things, but they will pretend as if they don’t. That Conference Centre has been booked now till 2027, no space. In fact, I saw an application by the Deputy Speaker, on Constitutional Amendment. There’s no space, no day,” Wike said.
He underscored that the National Assembly would need to pay for usage.
“I’m trying to adjust if he can pay on time. Because it’s not free. There’s nothing like it’s the National Assembly. You have to pay something for us to sustain the facility.”
“Yes, you are helping us to pass our budget, but it’s not for that area. We have to do it very well. Yes, you are passing the budget, which is part of your function, but the sustainability is key, because you won’t like it to be what it used to be before,” Wike added.
At the same event, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, representing President Tinubu urged Wike to refund anyone with existing bookings to accommodate the constitutional review committee. He also cautioned against extending bookings into 2028:
“I’m not happy to hear that the Constitutional Confab that we are planning by the National Assembly, we will not have space in the International Conference Centre, because of what you have done, that it has been booked till 2027. If they book it till 2027, what are we going to do? Was it our fault that you finished the job in such an international manner?”
“Please find a way to return the money to those who booked, we will pay. Because we need that space to also showcase to the world.”
“We are inviting a lot of international people, we would like them to see the good things in Nigeria. Don’t allow them to book it in 2028, otherwise we won’t even see a place to jubilate after we have won the election.”
