Indigenes demand state status for FCT

Indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), under the aegis of Original Inhabitants Development Association (OIDA), have called on the federal government to accord state status to the Territory so they can elect their own   governor.

President of the OIDA, Pastor Danladi Jeji, made the call on Wednesday at a town hall meeting organised by the natives on the future of Abuja indigenes.

He lamented that for over 41 years, several resettlement and relocation experiments were carried out in the Territory by various governments without any concrete results “principally due to policy inconsistencies.”

Jeji said if the natives were allowed to elect their own governor, members of the House of Assembly and more council areas created, “there will be more accountability, development and accessibility to elected representatives because they know them.”

He said the failure of the federal government to “resettle, relocate and compensate our people at the initial cost of ₦28 billion in 1978 has led to several policy summersaults.”

“In spite of all the challenges, we are still here and we are not prepared to go anywhere because we have nowhere to go.

“All we want is to be represented in the Federal Executive Council ( FEC). The natives no longer want a city centered Minister that focuses on developing elite districts and abandoning the satellites,” he said.

He stressed that the constitution should be amended to reflect cosmopolitan nature of Abuja.

According to him, this is their own idea of restructuring, a restructuring based on the devolution of governmental powers from federal authorities to Abuja city authorities.

“We no longer want the present military contraption, where a Minister is appointed to run the federal capital territory like a cantonment.”

He said the president had promised to sustain the struggle for the native’s emancipation through constitutional amendments at the National Assembly through peaceful dialogue and negotiations.

 

 

 

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