Natives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the auspices of the “Abuja Indigenous Liberation Movement (AILM), have called on the Federal Government to consider FCT indigenes for ministerial appointments.
They also want the government to recorganise FCT as a state so as to ensure equality and development.
It is the contention of the indigenes that they are entitled to ministerial representation in the Federal Executive Council as provided in Sections 147(3), 299, 14(3) and 42 of the 1999 Constitution and ruled by the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Jan. 15, 2018.
The Director, Institution of Governance and Development, Nassarawa State University, Prof. Andrew Zamani, presented the position of the FCT indigenes at a summit organised by AILM in Abuja on Sunday.
The theme of the summit was “Indigenous People of FCT, Issues of Land Ownership and the Way Forward.’’
Zamani, who also chaired the summit called on the Federal Government to give proper consideration to ancestral owners of land in FCT to make the natives have a sense of belonging and equal representation in the country.
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He posited: “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.
“The Federal Government should take a position on constitutional legitimacy of land administration in the Federal Capital Territory to stop the marginalisation of the people.
“We also plead with the government of Nigeria to honour the Appeal Court and the ECOWAS Court judgments on the status of the FCT as an autonomous governance entity.’’
Prof. Zamani recommended that based on the decision of the Court of Appeal and pursuant to the provisions of Section 299 and section 147 (3) of the 1999 Constitution, the Senate should approve that the indigenes of the FCT should nominate one of their own for appointment as a minister.
Speaking also, the coordinator of the group, Mr. Nathaniel Gaza, said that the summit was organised for the indigenous people of the FCT to discuss ways of addressing some challenges facing the natives and to draw government’s attention to the need for FCT to be treated as a state.
Gaza stated that there was a need for FCT indigenes to be given their right to land ownership and also called for the establishment of more tertiary institutions in the FCT to enable indigenous youths to have easy access to quality education in the FCT.
