FCT elders urges Wike to end 45-year neglect, demand 5% chiefs’ allocation
A coalition of elders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has appealed to the FCT Administration and the federal government, demanding an end to what they describe as decades of institutional and financial marginalization of the territory’s indigenous traditional institutions and residents. At a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, the FCT Senior Citizens Forum […]
Nyesom Wike
A coalition of elders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has appealed to the FCT Administration and the federal government, demanding an end to what they describe as decades of institutional and financial marginalization of the territory’s indigenous traditional institutions and residents.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, the FCT Senior Citizens Forum presented a two-pronged demand including the immediate implementation of the statutory 5% monthly allocation to the FCT Traditional Council from Area Council funds, and a radical call for the declaration of the FCT as a full-fledged state to ensure equal benefits for its natives and residents.
The Coordinator of the Forum, Elder Danjuma Tanko Dara, detailed a 45-year history of exclusion, stating that the 17 recognized chiefs of the FCT have been deprived of the financial sustenance mandated for traditional rulers across Nigeria.
“FCT traditional rulers do not receive the 5% allocation that other traditional councils in the 36 states collect monthly. ‘’Since the establishment of various chiefdoms in Abuja in 1979, these 17 chiefs have not benefited from the funds that their counterparts across Nigeria enjoy,” he said.
He explained the critical role these funds would play in grassroots development, supplementing government efforts.
“This 5% is supposed to come from the monthly allocation of the Area Councils. If released, it will go a long way in solving many community problems. They could drill boreholes, maintain community roads and schools, support indigent children, and assist in maintaining our traditional palaces,” Dara added.
Beyond finances, Elder Dara highlighted a systemic stagnation in the hierarchy of FCT chiefs.
“In other states, traditional rulers are upgraded a few years after being turbaned. However, in the FCT, once they are turbaned, they remain in the same rank for as long as they live. This is one of the saddest realities since the creation of the FCT,” he lamented.
He accused successive FCT Ministers of neglect, noting a pattern of unfulfilled promises.
He pointed out that while past ministers came from states where traditional institutions are highly valued and regularly upgraded, they failed to reciprocate that gesture in Abuja.
Elder Dara also painted a stark picture of the perceived humiliation faced by FCT rulers at national gatherings.
“In neighboring states, those who were upgraded long after our chiefs are now first-class chiefs. When they attend national meetings, our chiefs are relegated to the back while their counterparts sit at the front.”
The forum is now pinning its hopes on the current FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, urging him to take immediate action.