Following the constant decrease in the monthly allocations to area councils, stakeholders of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have asked the FCT administration to stop tampering with the allocations of the area councils because of political affiliations if the government truly wants development in the rural communities.
An elder statesman Mr. Danjuma Tanko Dara who spoke on behalf of other FCT stakeholders in a press briefing yesterday, said that instead of tampering with the allocations of area councils, the government should be working out modalities to increase thew allocations.
He said that there was no way rural communities can be properly developed if adequate funds are not given to the council chairmen to manage the communities at the grassroots and impact the indigenous people.
Dara said that the decline in the remittance of council allocation is unacceptable and that it must be clear to the minister of FCT to know and understand that the allocations shared at the federal level and Abuja are only meant for area council projects and not for federal projects.
“Hence there are several federal projects all over the states in Nigeria that are not relying on state government’s allocation or local government council. I want to call on the FCT lawmakers to go through the management of FCT allocation and ensure that it is used for what it has been allocated for.
“Is it not surprising that surrounding communities near and far are extremely cut off from social amenities, especially, portable water, good roads, hospitals, and schools among other basic amenities?
“There is the need for the government to improve on the monthly allocations of the area councils because the money is very important to take governance closer to the people at the grassroots and ensure that they have improved living standards through the provision of basic amenities,” he said.
He stressed that the area councils are of the same status as state local governments, thus counting constitutionality among the local governments of the federation.
“So, whoever is in charge of FCT is not constituted to control the resources of the FCT, as it is the responsibility of the area council to have access to their allocations for the development of the entire FCT.
“The appointment of ministers is not constitutional for them to tamper with the area councils allocations. So, it would be very unfair for the ruling party to think of saying that they will withhold the allocations of the councils that are governed by the opposition party because they are not members of the same party.
“We want to say that the people of Abuja will continue to go with the government that is for the people, and any undemocratic behaviour of any administration will be resisted immediately by the people of Abuja,” he said.
