As the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) marks 50 years since its proclamation as Nigeria’s capital, indigenous residents have raised concerns over what they describe as decades of marginalisation, exclusion, and systemic injustice, calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to initiate a constitutional review in collaboration with the National Assembly to address their grievances, including the creation of an FCT state.
The call was made by the umbrella body of indigenous groups, the FCT Stakeholders Assembly (FCTSA), during a press conference and first-quarter town hall meeting held in Abuja to commemorate the territory’s golden jubilee.
Speaking at the event, President of the Assembly, Dr Aliyu Daniel Kwali, said that while the Federal Government may be celebrating achievements in urban planning, architecture, and infrastructure, the past five decades have been marked by hardship for the original inhabitants of the FCT.
“Today marks fifty years since the creation of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. On February 3, 1976, the then Military Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, announced the establishment of a new Federal Capital Territory for Nigeria,” Kwali said.
“However, for the original inhabitants, these fifty years have not been a period of celebration, but of systematic dispossession, exclusion, and marginalisation.”
Kwali listed challenges faced by indigenous communities to include loss of ancestral lands and livelihoods, forced demolitions of homes without adequate compensation or resettlement, socio-economic segregation, political exclusion, desecration of cultural and sacred sites, and what he described as “persistent poverty imposed by policy, not by choice.”
He noted that although Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees freedom from discrimination, indigenous FCT residents continue to suffer denial of rights enjoyed by citizens in other parts of the country due to legislative and administrative practices.
According to him, forced demolitions—often carried out without sufficient notice, assessment, or compensation—have become a recurring feature uniquely affecting indigenous communities within the FCT.
On political participation, the FCTSA president lamented that despite Section 299 of the Constitution recognising the FCT as a state for constitutional purposes, residents are denied full political rights, including the ability to vote in or contest gubernatorial and state house of assembly elections.
He added that the territory remains under-represented in legislative structures and federal appointments, contrary to the federal character principle enshrined in Section 14(3) of the Constitution.
To address these concerns, the Assembly outlined a number of demands, including fair and adequate compensation for displaced communities, recognition and protection of customary land rights, and adoption of international best practices in land acquisition and resettlement.
Other demands include constitutional reforms to grant FCT residents equal status with citizens of other states, demarcation of the FCT into three senatorial districts, creation of additional federal constituencies, reclassification of area councils as full local government areas, and legal protection for cultural heritage, sacred sites, and traditional institutions.
In his concluding remarks, Kwali stressed that national unity and sustainable development cannot thrive where a people are denied dignity.
“Development must not be built on exclusion,” he said, adding that the Assembly remains committed to peaceful advocacy until justice is achieved for the indigenous peoples of the FCT.
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