Natives seek state status for Abuja

Indigenous people of the FCT have appealed to the federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to consider them for ministerial appointments and also grant Abuja recognition as a state to ensure equality and development.

Mr Danjuma Tanko Dara, an elder statesman and stakeholder in the FCT, who made this call at a press briefing on behalf of the natives, also called on President Tinubu to give proper consideration to ancestral owners of land in the FCT to give the natives a sense of belonging and equal representation in Nigeria.

Dara, while expressing disappointment at the denial of the natives their legal and constitutional right to have a ministerial position from among the people, said that the indigenous people of Abuja were long overdue to have a minister, noting that any well-meaning government would make their request come to pass.

He said that the choice of FCT minister from the indigenous persons of the FCT was something they had been advocating for equal right and justice to be done to the people of Abuja.

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He further said, “It is not illegal; by law it is legal. We are qualified by law to have an appointed minister that will represent us in the cabinet. However, it might not necessarily be the Minister of the FCT, but giving us the Minister of the FCT is doing the party a great favour.”