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FCT residents storm minister’s office over suspended inauguration of area council leaders

Residents of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Friday stormed the office of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Mohammed Bello to protest against the suspended inauguration of the newly elected area council chairmen and councillors.

The protesters called for the immediate swearing-in of the newly elected leaders.

Speaking to journalists, one of the leaders of the protest, Shekonlumi Yakubu Adamu, expressed surprise at the suspension of the inauguration.


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“The chairmen were supposed to be sworn in today, but to our surprise, we woke up on the eve of today, to get a press release from the minister that the swearing-in will not hold today again. We do not know the reason behind that.

“The only reason was that there was a court order restraining the minister from swearing-in the new chairmen because of tenure elongation,” he said.

Adamu also described the judgement as faulty and fraudulent.

“That judgment to suspend the swearing-in is faulty and fraudulent. We need a clearer explanation of why the judge went ahead with the judgment without taking into consideration all the parties involved.”

Also speaking during the protest, a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Joshua Yohanna, urged the incumbent chairmen and councillors to vacate their offices as they were elected under the Electoral Act of 2010.




     

     

    “We are cautioning the outgoing chairmen and councilors whose tenure under the 2010 Electoral Act upon which they were sworn in will effectively come to an end by the effusion of time on Friday, May 20, 2022, to steer clear of the respective area council offices from that date, if they want peace to reign,” he said.

    The ICIR reported that Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Mohammed Musa Bello on Thursday suspended the inauguration of the newly elected council chairmen and councillors.

    In a statement made available to journalists, Bello said the suspension was a result of a court injunction.

    Following the FCT Area Council elections held in February, incumbent chairmen and councillors were expected to vacate their offices by May 19, 2022 and the newly elected leaders, inaugurated immediately.

    Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.

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