The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senatorial candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Ireti Kingibe, has promised to give the people of the Territory good representation if elected, stating that bad governance pushed her into the 2023 race.
Ireti said she has built structure for over 20 years in the FCT rural areas to be able to win the senatorial election, adding that her efforts were to achieve better representation and not to gather wealth.
Speaking during an interaction with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Ireti said her aim in politics was to give back to the society.
“I want to give FCT credible representation. I am not trying to move to a new house or pay children’s school fees. I want to give back to society.
“I didn’t want to contest for the senatorial election but I realised that the country is getting worse and we will use the Labour Party which has a good ideology to win elections in the FCT.
“I’ve built my structure for more than 20 years and people in the grassroots know me very well because of what I’m doing in the rural areas.
“So, my people in the FCT came out to tell me that politics is not about what I want but about what the people want because they believe I will represent them well.
“I gave my all to this campaign. We don’t have water in FCT but Lower Usuma Dam and Jabi Lake were created to give water to Abuja people. We take water at Lower Usuma Dam, leave Bwari and give water to Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse and a few others.
“Labour is a party with ideology. We will use the Labour Party to ensure that development goes to every part of Abuja. As a leader of the party in the FCT, we can use the Labour Party to create awareness and win the local government elections,” Ireti said.
Speaking of poor power supply, Ireti said the 21st century offers an opportunity for people to diversify, including the use of solar power.
“Why can’t we use solar,” Ireti asked while decrying the poor state of roads in the FCT’s rural areas.
On security, Ireti said people in the rural areas of FCT can’t go to the farms, stating that if voted into office, they will secure the FCT.
“I am bringing goodwill, sincerity, and effective representation in the FCT. I want to make a difference to the lives of the residents of the FCT,” Ireti said, adding that other social vices affecting women would also be tackled.
On social welfare, Ireti said she has a good plan for the people to tackle hunger, adding that she will feed 1,000 people every Friday if voted into office.
“The programme has been designed. It is called ‘Eat with Ireti’ to eradicate hunger. I will donate my salary for the social welfare of the people and I will also get donors to help the people of the FCT.
“If I am not contesting to be a Senator, the only job I will want is to be at the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to change the mindset of Nigerians about the country.
“NOA must change the orientation of the people to be patriotic and create a good country. I will ensure zero hunger for the FCT,” she said, adding that even though the FCT was meant to be treated as a state, FCT was losing out because other states were accessing N1billion health grants while FCT don’t.
Speaking on the performance of the Labour Party in the next elections, Ireti said this time around, no one party will dominate the National Assembly.
On how she will defeat the incumbent FCT Senator, Philip Aduda, of the PDP, Ireti said it was the people that put Aduda there, saying that they will push him out.
For development to spread in the nation’s capital city, Ireti said she will want ministries, departments and agencies of government to be spread across the six area councils of the FCT.
“It is my hope to see that FCT spreads its development to the rural areas.
“All the ministries and the parastatals should be spread across area councils. With this, development in the FCT will be massive and the indigenous people will not feel marginalised,” Ireti said while suggesting an elective mayoral office for the FCT.
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