Abuja Elders Beg 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 minister and the federal government to end what they described as decades of institutional and financial marginalisation against the indigenous traditional institution and residents.

Under the aegis of FCT Senior Citizens Forum, the elders at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday, presented a two-pronged demand: the immediate implementation of the statutory five percent monthly allocation to the FCT Traditional Council from Area Council funds and 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 recognised chiefs of the FCT have been deprived of the financial sustenance mandated for traditional rulers across Nigeria.

“FCT traditional rulers do not get that five percent allocation like other traditional councils in the 36 states collect monthly.

“Since the establishment of various chiefdoms for Abuja in 1979, the 17 chiefs have not been benefiting from the five per cent that other traditional rulers in Nigeria benefit from,” he said.

Dara explained the critical role the funds would play in grassroots development, directly supplementing the government’s efforts.

Beyond finances, Dara highlighted a systemic stagnation in the hierarchy of the FCT chiefs.

“In other States of Nigeria, traditional rulers are upgraded a few years after turbaning, but in the FCT, when they are turbaned, they are left to remain in one position for as long as they exist. This is another saddest moment since the creation of the FCT,” he lamented.

He accused successive FCT ministers of neglect, noting a pattern of unfulfilled promises. “Our Chiefs have written to several FCT ministers, but after a while, nothing will be done.

“Those who have been ministers in FCT came from other states of Nigeria, and when they go to their states, they see how they upgrade their own traditional institutions. But when they are in Abuja, they don’t want to reciprocate that gesture. This is a sort of marginalisation, and it has to stop.

“If you go to our neighbouring states, those that were upgraded far behind our chiefs today, they are First Class Chiefs. So, by the time they go to a meeting outside, their seat is far, far in the front. They will be far behind,” he said.

The forum placed its hopes on the current FCT minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, urging immediate action.

“The present FCT minister should correct this anomaly. If he does this, his name will be written in gold in the heart of all Abuja indigenous people,” Dara asserted.