Court orders FCT minister to swear-in elected Chairmen, Councillors

By Ukpono Ukpong

The Abuja natives have called on the FCT Minister to swear-in the elected chairmen and their councilors without any delay.

This follows the judgement by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Kubwa district under Justice Mohammed Ibrahim setting aside the judgment given in favour of tenure elongation for the immediate past chairmen and their councilors.

Justice Ibrahim Justice while delivering a fresh judgment on Thursday, clarified that everybody is in a learning process, that persons are bound to make mistakes and also bound to make corrections, DailyTimes gathered.

He said that it was very clear that some mistakes were made and a judgment was entered, which brought a lot of issues concerning the elongation of the tenure of the outgoing chairmen in the six area councils.

Mohammed further said that in his wisdom, he has vacated that first judgment that was given by him and thereby directed that the area council chairmen who were elected and issued a certificate of return that the FCT Minister should go ahead and swear them into office.

Meanwhile, a coalition of FCT natives has called on the FCT Minister, Mallam Mohammed Bello to immediately, without hesitation, direct the Chief Judge of the FCTA to administer the oath of office and swear in the chairmen and councillors elect, to avoid any other nefarious encumbrances.

Hon. Joshua Yohanna, Convener of the coalition who made this call in an emergency press briefing after the judgment ordering the FCT minister to immediately swear in the chairmen and councillors elect, congratulated the people of the FCT for the judgment.

He described the judgment as courageous, even in the face of intimidation and political maneuvering, that it has clearly shown, that the judiciary remains the last hope of the common man.

“Based on the foregoing, and according to the orders of the court, we are calling on the Hon. Minister of the FCT, Mallam Mohammed Musa Bello, to immediately, without hesitation, direct that the Chief Judge of the FCT administers their oath of office and subsequently swear them in, to avoid any other nefarious encumbrances.

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“This has become expedient, based on the facts that the area councils are already lagging in terms of administration and good governance, as a result of the vacuum created by this impasse.

“We strongly believe, that the Hon. Minister of the FCT, is a man of integrity, character, and good conscience, and will keep his word, more so quickly.

“Meanwhile, we wish to congratulate all the newly about to be sworn in Chairmen and Councillors, to hit the ground running, and work hard for the development of the FCT and the interest of the people, to enhance their lives and well-being,” he said.

Yohanna said that as a coalition, they will continue to remain a formidable and active voice in promoting good governance and human rights and justice in the administration of the FCT.

“We also urge all our members, to be magnanimous in victory, while maintaining peace and goodwill.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

Also speaking, Hon. Emmanuel Iyang, Spokesperson for Campaign Council and AMAC Chairman-Elect while speaking on the judgment explained that for a while, the battle has been on, which made the Chief Judge of the FCT direct the matter back to the same court that initially issued the first judgment.

“We want to thank the FCT Minister who saw that something went wrong, first he respected the judgment of the court by suspending the swearing-in, which was very right. Then he said that the FCTA is an institution created by law, and as such he will not in any way disobey the law, most especially coming from a court of competent jurisdiction.

“He went further to say that his legal team would seek redress in the court and that they did. Today, based on that redress in court, the judgment has been vacated the judgment and by His grace, the area council chairmen will also be sworn into office as directed by the court to the Minister.

“As I speak with you now, we are believing that the Minister would be served by the court, directing him to swear in the newly elected chairmen. I want to strongly believe that as soon as the Honorable minister is served the order of the court, he will act immediately,” he said.

He further commended the spirit exhibited by the entire members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who came out to stand for fairness, fairness, and what is right.

It would be recalled that on May 18, 2022, residents of FCT received a judgment from the FCT High Court in Kubwa suspending the swearing-in of the elected chairmen and the councillors, which generated confusion in the territory, and the legal team of the FCTA had to seek redress of the judgment in court.