Abuja's Aso Radio Rots Away Amid Neglect By FCT Minister Wike, Nonpayment Of Workers

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, SaharaReporters has learnt. 

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

“At our entrance, wild grass has overtaken the compound. The old signpost carrying the once-iconic Aso Radio and Television Services logo is rusting and half-buried in weeds. The air smells of dust and hopelessness,” a concerned staff member told SaharaReporters.

The source explained that the decay inside is worse, noting that the Marketing Department is a graveyard of damp-stained walls, lifeless computers, and desks buried under months of grime. 

Also, cables hang loosely, forgotten by time.

According to the source, in the newsroom, a handful of weary employees still sit before dead screens, enduring the decade-long collapse. 

“Most of us are ad-hoc. We haven’t been paid for ten months,” another staff member “Some have stopped coming. Those who still come, it’s only because they can’t stay home doing nothing.”

Another staffer added, “Programmes fail every day. News bulletins are missed. Nobody cares anymore. The Acting MD doesn’t even respond. We just exist.”

SaharaReporters was told that the man currently overseeing this decay is Akin Ajibola, the Acting Managing Director of Abuja Broadcasting Corporation — the body running both Aso Radio and Aso TV. 

He was appointed in September 2023 after FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, sacked the heads of 21 parastatals.

The source asserted that Ajibola’s office mirrored the chaos he presides over. 

Despite airing adverts — especially those linked to Minister Wike’s activities and church events — staff remain unpaid. Workers say they don’t know where the money goes.

“We see adverts, we see coverage, but no one sees payment,” another insider said. “We don’t even know who handles the finances anymore.”

Since assuming office, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has made headlines for sackings, demolitions, and reshuffles — but not for rebuilding institutions like Aso Radio. 

More than a year after the shake-up, he has yet to appoint a substantive Managing Director for the Abuja Broadcasting Corporation.

“We’ve written letters, made calls—nothing. Nobody listens,” a senior producer said. “Aso Radio is dying, and nobody cares.” 

According to the report, Aso Radio once informed, educated, and reflected the heartbeat of the capital. Today, it stands as a monument to bureaucratic failure and official indifference.

At the exit gate, a weary Civil Defence officer summed it up grimly: “You see this place? It used to be something. But now, it’s just dust everywhere.”