FCTA denies report of Aso Radio, Television lying in ruins, unable to pay staff

The Abuja Broadcasting Corporation, managers of Aso Radio and Television, has denied claims that the building housing the media organisation is currently lying in ruins following the neglect by the FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike.

The Corporation further denied that staff salaries were being delayed, and the equipment left to rot away.

Sahara reporters had in a report stated that ” Aso Radio, once the pride of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory as the first FM station echoing across homes, taxis and offices, currently lies in ruin, and has become a ghost signal — broken and barely audible.”

The report added that “Some of the staff at the station’s hilltop headquarters in Katampe, Abuja, said the media institution is in terminal decline. “

But reacting in a statement on Monday, by Ajibola Akinwumi, the acting Managing Director of the Corporation, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), described the claims as false. “It is important to emphasise that the allegations are completely inaccurate and unfair.”

The statement continued: “We feel compelled to clarify a media report attributed to an online publication known as ‘SAHARA REPORTERS,’ which claims that the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barr. Nyesom Wike owes salaries to the workers of the Abuja Broadcasting Corporation and has neglected the organisation.

“To set the record straight, the Federal Capital Territory Administration, under the capable leadership of Barrister Nyesom Wike, has fully and promptly paid the salaries of pensionable staff at ABC, up to date (October 2025). Furthermore, there are verifiable records demonstrating that the Administration is actively working to enhance the status of the organisation.”

“It is noteworthy to point out that the Honourable Minister Wike has graciously approved the regularization of the organisation’s AD-HOC staff which confers them with a pensionable status in the organization.

“Inasmuch as ASO RADIO/TV upholds the role of Investigative Journalism, which is to unravel hidden facts and figures about government business in order to make those in government accountable for their deed or misdeed, it is therefore equally expedient to understand that the constitution of the country guarantees the rights of individuals and organisations to a fair hearing and principle of privacy.
It could be deducted from the above that the allegations of SAHARA REPORTERS are baseless, faulty and a calculated and desperate attempt to paint the Honourable Minister Wike in a bad light.

“What is more worrisome is the fact that your Reports ignored all known ethics of Journalism, especially the rules of fairness and balanced reporting to the extent of mentioning my name without the courtesy of engaging me in conversations or correspondences in order to get my own side of the story. So unfortunate! That particular content in your platform relating to ABC are nothing short of an ethical breach to say the least.

“Please, let it be understandable henceforth that Abuja Broadcasting Corporation runs an open administration and operates on a 24-hour basis on both Radio and Television.”