The Federal Government has apologised to the indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) over their exclusion from past appointments. The government promised to correct the anomaly soon.

The apology was made yesterday in Abuja by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal when he received FCT indigenes led by the Ona of Abaji, His Royal Highness, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa, who is the Chairman of the FCT Council of Chiefs.

Lawal assured them that the move by the Buhari administration was not intentional nor was a calculation of the government to undermine the interest of the FCT indigenes.
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Lawal promised that the situation would be corrected by the government in subsequent appointments, as their strategic place in the constitution could not be ignored.

In his remarks, the monarch complained about the exclusion of FCT indigenes from the reconstitution of the governing councils of federal universities, the composition of the Federal Executive Council and more recently, the nomination of non-career ambassadorial nominees.

The royal father appealed that the anomaly should be corrected since it contravenes certain provisions of the 1999 constitution and the Federal Character Commission that specifies that the FCT should be treated as if it were one of the states of Nigeria.