· How security report hastened process
· Outgoing chairmen vow to fight on
· Abuja natives warn troublemakers to stay off
Ahead of the expected inauguration of the six area council chairmen and councillors, the political space in the Federal Capital Territory is still charged, with opposing groups threatening the process if their wishes were not followed through.
Recall that an FCT High Court sitting in Kubwa had on Thursday, June 9, set aside the judgment in favour of tenure elongation for the six area council chairmen and councilors elected in 2019 for a three-year tenure.
The court also ordered the FCT minister to immediately swear-in the newly elected officials.
While supporters of the area council chairmen-elect stormed the premises of the FCTA secretariat demanding that the executives be sworn immediately, the outgoing chairmen are, however, spoiling for war, with threat to scuttle the exercise if the administration goes ahead to inaugurate the chairmen.
The Abuja Inquirer reliably gathered that a security report had uncovered a plot to destabilise the peace of the territory if the court order barring the swearing-in of the elected council officials was allowed to subsist.
Sources within the administration who confided in our correspondent said the security report may have influenced the administration to expedite action on the vacation of the court order.
Staff of the FCTA were trapped in their offices after work hours on Friday, as aggrieved Abuja natives blocked all entrance and exit points to the FCTA secretariat.
The protesting youths invaded the secretariat in their large numbers vowing to occupy the minister’s office until he swears in the chairmen-elect of the in line with Thursday’s FCT high court order.
However, council to the plaintiffs for tenure elongation, Barrister Kalu Agu, said the ruling was not in line with legal principles as one separate case cannot be used to set aside another.
Agu, at a media briefing over the weekend, said his clients will appeal the judgment of Justice Ibrahim Mohammed of the FCT High Court, which nullified a one-year tenure extension granted the chairmen and councilors, due to lack of jurisdiction.
He noted that there are discrepancies and inconsistencies in the high court judgement that requires interpretation by an appeal court.
The legal practitioner called on the FCT minister not go ahead with the swearing-in ceremony until all legal issues have been concluded.
He said, “As far as the FCT minister wants to rely on the court order to swear-in the new chairmen and councillors, I call on him to tread with caution and wait for proper legal interpretations on the matter.
“For instance, in the suit, the parties in the judgment which extended the tenure of the outgoing chairmen and councillors are different from the parties that are on ruling that set aside the judgment.
“So, the minister should stay action on the inauguration, pending when the matter is properly investigated, because it will be dangerous to go ahead and swear-in the new chairmen and councillors when the matter is still in court.”
The FCT Administration, had on Friday, announced that it will abide by the court ruling and swear in the elected officials immediately after the Democracy Day holiday.
A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary of the FCTA, Mr Anthony Ogunleye, explained that the administration had to stall the inauguration until it was officially served the new court judgment.
The statement reads, “The FCTA at about 1400hrs of this Friday, the 10th of June, 2022 received the Certified True Copy of the new judgement of the FCT High Court delivered by Justice Ibrahim Mohammed.”
It further stated that as a law-abiding organization, “the FCTA will equally obey this new judgement just as it had complied with the earlier judgement. The chairmen shall accordingly be inaugurated at 10:00hrs prompt on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Further details will be provided in due course.”
