Natives of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja under the banner of the Original Inhabitants Development Association of Abuja, OIDA have congratulated the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President-Elect, Professor Yemi Osibanjo on their victory in the March 28 polls.
The Natives are also asking the President-Elect to appoint competent natives of Abuja as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and political aides so that the incoming government will not have a crisis of confidence between it and Abuja original inhabitants.
This was contained a statement by the President of the association, Pastor Danladi Jeji, the pan-FCT socio-cultural group.The group said Buhari’s victory is a right step towards the fulfilment of the aspiration of Nigerians through the ballot box. They want the incoming All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government to ensure that all Nigerians have a say in the people-elected government.
“The election of Gen. Buhari is the fulfilment of our aspiration for a people-centered government and we will offer maximum support to the incoming federal government which we are optimistic will have policies that will benefit not only original inhabitants of Abuja but also all Nigerians resident in the capital city” OIDA said.
The statement adds that Abuja original inhabitants want “the immediate scrapping of the Landswap programme of the outgoing minister of FCT, Bala Mohammed because it is a conduit pipe for allocation of massive lands to cronies of the outgoing PDP-led federal government. We also seek a total audit of land allocations by the Abuja Geographic and Information System, AGIS.”
OIDA stated that the natives have “fought and endured injustice for long in the administration of the outgoing PDP-led Federal Government especially on the protracted issues of land-grab, demolition of native houses, non-development of satellite towns, marginalization in appointments, non-compensation of compulsorily acquired lands and massive sacking of whole villages for the appropriation of their lands by selfish politicians and their cronies in government. We have the confidence in the ability of your government to end these injustices.”
The group urged the APC-led Federal Government to create a development commission to cater for displaced indigenous communities in Abuja. “The proposed Abuja Original Inhabitants Development Commission (AOIDC) should be statutory and derive its funding from 30% of all sales accruing from allocable lands within the FCT. When established, AOIDC should deal with the lingering issues of relocation, resettlement and compensation for all project affected communities and persons.”
