By Stanley Onyekwere
The Natives of the Federal Capital Territory have appealed to the federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to consider FCT indigenes for ministerial appointments, and also grant Abuja recognition as a state to ensure equality and development.
Making this appeal at the weekend, Mr. Danjuma Tanko Dara, an elder statesman and stakeholder of the FCT in a press briefing on behalf of the natives, also called on President Tinubu to give proper consideration to ancestral owners of land in FCT to give the natives a sense of belonging and equal representation in the country.
Dara while expressing disappointment at the denial of the natives their legal and constitutional right to have a ministerial position from among the people, said that the indigenous people of Abuja are long overdue to have a minister and that any well-meaning government will make a request come to pass.
He noted that the position of FCT minister from indigenous persons of the FCT is something they have been advocating for, for equal rights and justice to be done to the people of Abuja.
“It is not illegal, by law it is legal. We are qualified by law to have an appointed Minister that will represent us in the cabinet. However, it might not necessarily be the minister of the FCT, but giving us the minister of the FCT is doing the party a great favor.
“The present government needs to get it right this time and ensure that if possible, an indigene is appointed minister of the FCT, if not the main minister, they can appoint an indigenous person as the minister of state for the FCT and see the difference,” he stressed.
According to him, the Court of Appeal in Abuja had ruled on January 15, 2018, that indigenous people of the FCT were entitled to a ministerial representation in the Federal Executive Council as provided in Sections 147(3), 299, 14(3) and 42 of the 1999 Constitution.
“We need a state status to increase our franchise beyond local government elections to enable us to have an executive governance structure, independent governing body and to expand our representation at the National Assembly.
“This present government should take a position on the constitutional legitimacy of land administration in the Federal Capital Territory to stop the marginalisation of the people. We also plead with the government to honour the Appeal Court and the ECOWAS Court judgments on the status of the FCT as an autonomous governance entity,’’ he said.
He advised that based on the decision of the Court of Appeal and according to the provisions of Section 299 and Section 147 (3) of the 1999 Constitution, the 10th National Assembly should approve that the indigenes of the FCT should nominate one of their own for appointment as a Minister.
