FCT natives want end to discrimination

The indigenous people of  the FCT under the umbrella of the Abuja Original Inhabitants Youth Empowerment Organisation (AOIYEO) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to apply the “doctrine of necessity” in order to enable them participate in governorship and Houses of Assembly elections like other states of the federation. The Executive […]

The indigenous people of  the FCT under the umbrella of the Abuja Original Inhabitants Youth Empowerment Organisation (AOIYEO) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to apply the “doctrine of necessity” in order to enable them participate in governorship and Houses of Assembly elections like other states of the federation.

The Executive Director of AOIYEO, Commandant Isaac David, who made the call during a media parley with newsmen in Abuja on Saturday, said the natives of the FCT were the only only people in Nigeria that were subjected to practical non-application of federal laws by virtue of Section 299 (a) (b) 301,302 of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act which enshrined fundamental rights to dignity of persons and freedom from discrimination.

He noted that no minister had ever been appointed by the president from among the natives, particularly the Minister of the FCT, since its creation in 1976.

He said, “So, it is highly disturbing to see that the Nigerian citizens who are natives of the FCT are the only people, because of their place of origin and ethnic backgrounds, not accorded privileges and rights, particularly that flow from the second tier system of government, to enjoy the dividends of democracy like their counterparts in the states in the country.

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“Therefore, we are telling the world about this flagrant and total violation of our rights which amounts to a denial of the FCT indigenes the right to dignity of their persons and freedom from discrimination as enshrined in Sections 34 and 42 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.”