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…Explains why Abuja hasn’t attained Mayoral status

By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja

HAJIYA Ireti Kingibe, former wife of one-time Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babagana Kingibe, has said she is contesting the FCT senatorial seat on the ticket of the Labour Party to make life better for the people of Abuja.

According to Mrs Kingibe, she is not contesting the February 25 election to enrich herself.

The LP Senatorial candidate, who spoke to journalists in Abuja, also gave an insight into the reasons the bill seeking Mayoral status in the FCT was rejected by the national assembly.

She said, “That Mayor Bill was first written by the Senator that was Senator from 1999 to 2003. It hasn’t been passed yet because we haven’t gone about it properly.

“You also have to remember that from 1999 till now, a huge chunk of that time, that is 12 years, has been occupied by one senator.

“Now, the last time that the bill was not passed, I went around and asked some of the senators, why did you reject it as it doesn’t have anything to do with you. They said, ‘Well, madam, we didn’t like how the bill was presented. It was presented to us that we should pass it so that he (the lawmaker representing FCT in the Senate) when he finishes as Senator should go and become mayor.

“I even sat the lawmaker down and told him that part of the reason we’re not getting this mayoral seat is because you’ve personalized it. I told him that if you throw it to the people and make them understand that they all will fare better under an elected mayor, I assure you, they alone are enough to put the necessary pressure to get it.”

According to Kingibe, many residents of the FCT do not feel the presence of the government was due to poor representation at the National Assembly.

“I am running because I can see a great lapse and lacuna in the representation of the FCT. I have lived in the FCT since 1988.

“If you remove Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse, Wuse 2, Central Business District and Airport road from FCT, there is nothing left, development is zero, you can’t go to Nyanya and see any decent road, nowhere has water, nowhere has light.”

She said most of the roads, schools and other basic infrastructures in the nation’s capital had been in a deplorable state, with little or no effort by the government to fix them.

She added that insecurity has become more prevalent in the FCT which has led to farmers abandoning their farms over the fear of being killed.

According to her, highbrow areas in the FCT are getting undue attention in terms of infrastructure to the detriment of the suburbs which have little or no government presence.

Kingibe said her major focus when elected as Senator representing FCT at the Red Chamber will be to tackle the infrastructural imbalance in the FCT and ensure the issue of insecurity is addressed.

“FCT except for Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) is primarily agrarian, but because of insecurity, nobody can go to the farm. Even if there is insecurity in the land, FCT is the capital, with a little bit of effort, we should be secured in the FCT, but we are at the point where nobody can go to the farm.

“I feel that there is a lack of will to fix insecurity, and what I am bringing to the FCT is goodwill, determination to work, sincerity, integrity and honesty, the things I cannot do, I will tell FCT residents that I cannot do it.

“I pledge to donate my basic salary, if I win the senatorial seat, to a special fund to tackle the infrastructural deficits in rural communities in the nation’s capital.

“I am bringing a credible representation, I am not going there to put anything in my pocket, at my age I have everything that I want, I am not trying to move to a better house, but I want to give back to the society that has been good to me.

“I didn’t join politics for anything other than improving the country and the people. A nation and a government are judged by the well-being of the people, that is what determines success.

“When people ask me if I can reduce the salaries of Senators, I tell them that I don’t think that can happen with me alone, I think that the National Assembly is overpaid but it is not within my scope of duties to be able to do something about it.

“I should be able to pass laws with other Senators if when I get there, we are able to do so together, but notwithstanding that, I can make a difference to the lives of the residents of the FCT and that is basically what I am bringing to the table.”