Hajiya Ireti Kingibe, former wife of one-time Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babagana Kingibe, has said she is contesting the FCT senatorial seat on the ticket of the Labour Party (LP) to make life better for the people of Abuja.
The LP Senatorial candidate, who spoke to journalists in Abuja, also gave highlighted the reasons the bill seeking Mayoral status in the FCT was rejected by the National Assembly.
“That Mayor Bill was first written by the Senator that was Senator from 1999 to 2003. It hasn’t been passed yet because we haven’t gone about it properly. You also have to remember that from 1999 till now, a huge chunk of that time, that is 12 years, has been occupied by one senator.
“Now, the last time that the bill was not passed, I went around and asked some of the senators, why did you reject it as it doesn’t have anything to do with you. They said, ‘Well, madam, we didn’t like how the bill was presented. It was presented to us that we should pass it so that he (the lawmaker representing FCT in the Senate) when he finishes as Senator should go and become mayor.
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“I even sat the lawmaker down and told him that part of the reason we’re not getting this mayoral seat is because you’ve personalized it. I told him that if you throw it to the people and make them understand that they all will fare better under an elected mayor, I assure you, they alone are enough to put the necessary pressure to get it,” Hajiya Kingibe said.
She said she was contesting because she sees great lapses and lacuna in the representation of the FCT, where she has lived FCT since 1988.
She said, “If you remove Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse, Wuse 2, Central Business District and Airport Road from FCT, there is nothing left, development is zero, you can’t go to Nyanya and see any decent road, nowhere has water, nowhere has light.”
She lamented that insecurity has become more prevalent in the FCT which has led to farmers abandoning their farms over the fear of being killed or kidnapped.
Kingibe said her major focus when elected as Senator representing FCT at the Red Chamber will be to tackle the infrastructural imbalance in the FCT and ensure insecurity is addressed.
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