By Sarah NEGEDU
Lawmakers in the Federal House of Representatives are calling for the creation of six additional Secretariats for the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
The house passed the resolution during plenary on Wednesday after the adoption of a motion sponsored by Joshua Obika, a lawmaker representing the Abuja municipal/Bwari federal constituency.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had in 2023 approved the creation of 2 new Secretariats. The Women Affairs as well as the Youth Development secretariats, therefore binging the number of secretariats to eight.
However, Hon. Obika, while moving the motion, said the current number of mandate secretaries is not sufficient to meet the growing administrative tasks and governance needs of the “rapidly expanding” federal capital territory population and development.
The legislator said appointing more mandate secretaries would give a sense of inclusivity to the people of the nation’s capital.
“Additional mandate secretaries will enhance good governance, service delivery, and adequate representation of the federal capital territory’s people in policy coordination and implementation at the grassroots,” he said.
The motion was adopted when Tajudeen Abbas, the speaker of the house, put it to a voice vote.
Consequently, the house said the mandate secretaries must be residents with in-depth knowledge of the area councils to ensure adequate representation of the nation’s capital for effective administration.
