FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has adviced residents of the Federal Capital Territory to pay their taxes in order to witness infrastructure improvement.
He warned that the rich people in the capital city must pay their tax or lose out on infrastructural improvements.
He said this on Tuesday, February 6, at the flag-off of 57 km road rehabilitation projects, covering 189 roads in the Maitama District of the FCT.
He said he would not back down but would keep doing what was right, following some resistance from people when he went out to implement his drive of generating revenue through taxation.
He added, “What we are doing now is not within the area councils. This is the place for big men.”.
“But when they tell them to pay tax now, they’ll begin to complain. They are happy the road is being resurfaced, but ask them where the money will come from if not tax.
“When we started to see how we could get more tax and more revenue, there was nothing they did not do to fight me. I’m not worried.
“I will not shake. I will do what is right. So, don’t expect to have good roads without paying tax.”
The former governor of Rivers equally apologized to the residents living in the Maitama District for the inconveniences caused by the rehabilitation projects on the roads, identified that there could be no progress without some pain.
“You cannot talk about development without making sacrifices,” he added. “There must be inconveniences, but after that inconvenience, you will benefit from it. So these few days where you have had some kind of traffic problem, some people say, ‘Oh, where it used to take them 2 minutes, it took them 40 minutes’, part of the sacrifice, it will not be like that forever.”.
“Maybe FCDA did not make any announcements to enlighten the public that this is what was going to happen. So, I apologize on their behalf. But know that it was not intentional for people to suffer.”
Wike charged local contractors to ensure they deliver projects assigned to them, saying that he would revoke the contracts of any developer who failed to perform.
He said that whereas he supported local content, he was not for local content without competence.
He thanked those in the Senate and the House of Representatives who backed the administration, as good governance was, for him, more crucial than political differences.