The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, has said that only 15 per cent of the territory has been developed, after over 35 years of its existence and has attributed it to the astronomical population growth of the city.
This is despite billions of naira invested in the FCT, through government budgetary allocations.
The minister dropped the hint over the weekend, when he received a consortium from the United States of America, and the United Kingdom, operating under Osike Synergy Limited, led by Mrs. Remi Aiyela and Mr. Christian Udechukwu.
Senator Mohamed attributed the situation to over dependence on the government, and called for increased participation of both Nigerian and foreign private investors in the development of the various sectors of the FCT, and said it was in realisation of this that the administration had opened its doors to genuine investors willing to participate in the development of FCT.
He further said that population increase in the FCT had outpaced the rate of development, and noted that whereas the FCT was designed to accommodate a population of about one million people, it had over five million people already, a situation that had put undue pressure on existing facilities and infrastructure.
The minister commended the consortium for indicating interest in the development of the FCT and reiterated the commitment of the administration to build lasting frameworks and provide a level playing field for the inflow of investments.
Earlier in his address, the managing director/chief executive officer of the consortium, Mr. Christian Udechukwu, said the organization planned to build a five star hotel in Abuja, with projected investment of about $ 1 billion and called for government’s support.