Following Daily Trust report on its dilapidated nature, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) have come renovation work on the facility located in the Three Arm Zone Area in Abuja.
Recall that In a story published on March 25 2024 and titled, “Federal Secretariat Rots Away Despite Guzzling N8.1bn On Renovation,” Daily Trust reported sorry state and condition of the building which houses over 15 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Key ministries, departments and agencies of government are located in the building including the ministries of aviation, health, Labour and employment, science and technology among others.
Meanwhile, Daily Trust reports that the secretariat was inaugurated in 1993 when the then Head of State, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, moved the FCT from Lagos to Abuja.
Checks by Daily Trust had shown that the N8.1bn was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in March, 2021, and was followed by the flag off of the renovation project in November, 2022.
However, renovation work couldn’t commence almost two years after without any explanation from authorities why construction work hasn’t started.
An initial visit to the federal secretariat by this reporter revealed that the security architecture of the building is loose; with no concrete security apparatus put in place to safeguard the lives and property of over 1,000 workers.
One of the obvious areas affected by the decay is the part housing the Federal Ministry of Health. The walls of the building are gradually being washed away by rain and water dripping from air conditioners.
In addition, most of the buildings are covered with the posters of candidates seeking different offices in civil service unions.
Similarly, epileptic power supply in the building, most of the toilets are unkempt, just as most of the elevators are not functional.
Consequently, a recent visit to the Secretariat showed that both exterior and interior renovation work has commenced on the property.
Workers were seen replastering and repainting some section of the building which has dilapidated as a result of inadequate or lack of maintenance.
One of the workers at the renovation site who simply identified himself as Musa said they were mobilized to site last month to commence renovation of the building.
According to him, “What I heard is that the renovation will be in phases and when we finish this side, the next will be the ministry of health section which is one of the badly damaged part of the building
“Rain has really washed off the paint and it’s not looking good so I heard that’s the next place we will focus on when we are done here,” he said.
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