Guber polls: CHRICED urges citizens to vote despite Feb 25 glitches

‘Why Abuja original inhabitants won’t vote’

The Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has called on citizens not to be discouraged by the irregularities observed in the February 25, 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections, but troop out to exercise their franchise.

CHRICED, in a statement, yesterday, signed by the Executive Director, Dr. Ibrahim Zikirullahi, also urged the citizens to refrain from any electoral malpractice or violence during the elections.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has set March 18 as the new date for the governorship and House of Assembly polls across the 36 states of the country.

Earlier scheduled for March 11, exigencies necessitated a shift in the date. However, when Nigerians go to the polls tomorrow, the Abuja original inhabitants and all residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will painfully sit back and watch the rest of the country exercise this inalienable political right. They have been denied the opportunity to vote, the Centre lamented.

The statement reads: “The over 9,000 square kilometres of land owned by Abuja original inhabitants were forcefully taken under Section 1 of Military Decree No.6 of 1976 (now Cap.503 of the Law of Federation), which named the area as the new capital of Nigeria. Over the last 40 years, successive governments have failed to keep their pledges to compensate them.”

“By the stroke of Decree 6, the over two million inhabitants were rendered homeless, stateless, landless and forced to confront decolonisation and deprivation challenges. Today, the original inhabitants are politically excluded, economically marginalised and culturally emasculated. Many years of struggle by the inhabitants to redress historical wrongs, to address the journey of deprivation and a seemingly obliterated future have been stoutly rebuffed, and violently disregarded by successive governments in Nigeria.”

Even as the court has ruled that the FCT “has the status of a state by virtue of the provisions of Section 299 of the Constitution,” the Centre noted, the Federal Government declined to enforce the judicial decisions.

“Rather, President Muhammadu Buhari’s Government deemed the court decisions to be declaratory in nature and thus unenforceable,” it added. Further, it noted that the necessary constitutional changes for the FCT to operationalise its ‘Special State’ status had been repeatedly refused by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-dominated National Assembly during constitution review exercises.