Paul Ibe, media adviser to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has challenged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to disclose the amount of public money spent on his media chats.
Ibe made the call in a post on X on Tuesday, following Wike’s latest media engagement, which was broadcast live by several television and radio stations.
He questioned the cost of the broadcasts and urged the minister to publish invoices detailing payments to participating stations, the sources of funding and the relevant budget lines.
According to Ibe, at least eight broadcast outlets aired Tuesday’s session, including Arise Television, Channels Television, TVC, News Central, AIT, JDK, Aso TV and Radio, and ADBN.
Estimating airtime costs at between ₦10 million and ₦20 million per station per hour, Ibe said a two-hour broadcast across eight stations could cost between ₦160 million and ₦320 million.
He further estimated that conducting similar sessions monthly over a year could bring the total expenditure to between ₦1.92 billion and ₦3.84 billion.
However, the figures were estimates provided by Ibe and do not establish the actual amount spent on the broadcast.
“FCT residents deserve to know how much is being spent on these broadcasts and how much airtime is devoted to FCT development, rather than Wike’s political disagreements with Atiku, Amaechi, Obi, ADC and NDC,” he wrote.
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Ibe said he had no objection to Wike explaining his stewardship as minister but maintained that public funds should be used for purposes that directly benefit residents of the Federal Capital Territory.
“There is nothing wrong with a minister explaining his stewardship. But public resources must serve public purposes, not personal political battles,” he said.
He urged the minister to disclose payments made to the broadcast stations and explain how the media engagements were financed.
“Minister Wike, publish the invoices. Identify the stations paid, the amounts, the funding sources and the relevant budget lines,” Ibe added.
The former vice-president’s aide also argued that the minister’s media engagements should place greater emphasis on issues affecting FCT residents, including roads, water supply, schools, hospitals, sanitation and security.
“Atiku and Amaechi are not infrastructure projects. ADC and NDC are not departments of the FCT Administration,” he said.
Ibe concluded that public funds should not be used to finance what he described as personal political publicity, insisting that government resources must be directed towards public needs rather than political disagreements.
“The FCT treasury is not Wike’s personal political broadcasting account. Public office is not a licence to convert public funds into private political publicity,” he wrote.