By Sarah NEGEDU
Natives of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, are threatening to shut down the city if the National Assembly fails to revisit two of the FCT interest bills that were recently rejected.
Specifically, the natives are asking the lawmakers to reconsider and ensure the passage of the Mayoral Status Bill as well as allow for the appointment of an indigenous FCT minister.
The Senate had on March 1, 2022, rejected Bill Number 60 seeking mayoral status for the FCT.
The bill sought to alter the constitution to create a democratic governance structure for the FCT through the office of Mayor of the FCT, Abuja, who is to be democratically elected.
While the lower legislative chamber consented to Bill 61 which is on the appointment of minister from the FCT, the senators again rejected the bill.
At the end, both Chambers unanimously consented to just one of the 3 FCT interest bills, which is the proposal to correct errors in the delineation of FCT boundary.
A socio-cultural group, Abuja Grassroots Advocacy Projects, AGAP, is however warning the federal government not to blame the indigenes for any civil unrest that may arise in the territory if the National Assembly fails to revisit the two bills which they say are critical to their interest natives.
Chief advocate of AGAP, Comrade Yunusa Yusuf, said the natives can no longer tolerate the marginalization melted on them by the government, and have decided to take their destiny into their hands by ensuring that they stage a ‘mother of all protests’ to push for the actualization of their constitutional rights.
Yusuf exclusively told The Abuja Inquirer after a press briefing organised by some notable FCT stakeholders that the protest will result in continuous blockage of all entries into the FCT, mostly the Airport Road and ever busy Kubwa Zuba Expressway.
“We want to warn clearly that since we are not considered as Nigerians like other citizens, the lawmakers would soon be visiting the FCT as if they are also foreigners coming to a foreign country. Since we are not Nigerians and we lack identity, the country has nothing to respect us for.
“From now, we have decided that we are not going to wait for another four years. We are going to take our destiny by force. By this, we are calling on members of the National Assembly to be very careful, especially the northerners amongst them, who have been voting against the FCT mayoral status bill.
“It is not news that we have brought this bill before the National Assembly before and it failed to scale through, now we brought it again, the National Assembly members still denied the bill from scaling through. This is bad and inhuman. This time around, we cannot wait for another four years,” he said.
He warned members of the National Assembly to thread carefully because the people of FCT have come to know that they are their problems and that was dangerous for their security.
“This is not a threat, but it is dangerous for their security. Because we know that when you know your enemy, you can do anything to make sure that you defeat him or her to ensure that you are victorious in your endeavours.
“We have vowed not to wait any longer. We are tired of waiting, enough is enough to this baseless marginalization of FCT natives. What have we done wrong to deserve this kind of marginalisation?
“How can people come from their different states to deny us our rights? We are going to stage a protest that would be more than that of the #EndSARS and the repercussions will be more than the #EndSARS. This protest will shake the foundation of the FCT, if the right things are not done urgently.
“The National Assembly must know that the new generation of FCT natives now have come to understand that gone are those days when our people were cheated by strangers and they kept quiet and watch because they want peace to reign. We are saying that the marginalization melted on our people can no longer be tolerated and the fact that we do not have identity is more worrisome and this must change,” he warned.
