The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has instructed the temporary closure of the International Conference Centre in Abuja for a duration of six months due to inadequate maintenance.
He explained that the suspension was to enable Julius Berger to carry out holistic rehabilitation of the centre.
The minister had last week terminated the contract of Messrs Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd, assigned to manage the centre.
Mr Anthony Ogunleye, Director of Press, Office of the Minister, who announced the development on April 4, added that Julius Berger had been contracted for the immediate renovation of the centre.
After going round the facility, Wike described it as a mere conference centre, “There is nothing international about the centre.
“When we came here for the ECOWAS inauguration sometime last week, with President Bola Tinubu, no right-thinking human being would see the state of this facility and be happy.
“In fact, during the inauguration, Tinubu drew my attention to the rot. Even the lighting system was so poor.
“This is unacceptable. There is no way we can accept this as an International Conference Centre.
