· Hold your lawmakers, he is a private citizen – Youth leader
By Laraba MUREY
Some original inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory have queried the whereabouts of Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda in view of several challenges facing them.
The natives expressed their worry over the continued silence of the former senator and House of Reps member in their agitations for a better deal with the administration.
“We have asked ourselves where is our son and one who has enjoyed the benevolence of the original inhabitants,” a community leader of Graki that asked not to be named for fear of being blacklisted.
Aduda was first elected into the House of Reps in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007 where he was till 2011 before running for the Senate that year and was there till he was defeated by Senator Ireti Kingibe in the 2023 elections truncating his bid for a third term.
A known ally of FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, Aduda has been seen to be with him at almost every public functions including travelling with him outside Abuja.
However, some of his Gbagyi people say he has abandoned their cause for personal benefit.
“We don’t see him. We don’t hear from him. We don’t even know where he is. See the Gishiri land matter, Senator Aduda was nowhere to be found. He didn’t visit, he didn’t call our chief. Nothing,” an aggrieved youth leader in Gishiri alleged to this newspaper.
Another indigene of Waupa stressed that it has become an embarrassment that a four-term lawmaker cannot meet with his people to know what their issues are and pass same to his friend the minister.
“We can’t remember when he met with us as natives of Abuja. We have issues. We want to be more involved in the governance space. We are tired of hand outs,” the indigene who gave his name as Shagi said.
Efforts to speak with the senator proved unsuccessful as several calls to his known mobile lines went unanawered including text messages.
However, President of the Abuja Original Inhabitants Youths Empowerment Organization, AOIYEO, Commander Isaac David, insisted that Senator Aduda is now a private citizen and so not obligated to speak for or against demolition of houses of indigenous people.
The youth leader, who blamed FCT residents for voting against the ranking senator, pointed that the sitting senator and other prominent indigenes in government have the responsibility to speak for the people.
“As far as we are concerned, Senator Aduda is on break, so why should he be the one to speak? We didn’t know his value and felt it was better for a non-indigene to represent us at the senate, now we have non-indigenes so why are we complaining?
“For the demolition in Gishiri, we have other prominent indigenes who are in the corridors of power, why didn’t they speak for the people? Why will anyone expect a private citizen like Senator Aduda to be the one to speak when we have a sitting Senator?
“Is she not there to speak for the people? Why has she not spoken and why is nobody bothered that she has spoken? It is Senator Aduda who is now on break and a private citizen that we are concerned about.
“Besides, Aduda may have spoken privately to the minister on the demolition matter because of the relationship between both of them.
“Who knows, maybe the reason why we are not having widespread demolition is because of the relationship between Senator Aduda and the minister.
“We know that this current FCT Administration has not been too concerned about demolition if not for the overriding public interest in Gishiri.”
David also used the opportunity to appeal to the FCT minister to officially assign Senator Aduda as coordinator and intermediary between the FCT Administration and the indigenous people.
“If the minister had officially pronounced Aduda as the coordinator of affairs of the 853 communities in the FCT, then government can directly get the feeling of the people.
“Because right now we are finding it difficult to reach the minister. If there’s a channel that can connect us to the minister and the minister to us, then issues like the controversies recorded in Gishiri would not have happened.”
