Protests rock Abuja over enforcement of judgement on tenure elongation by FCT minister

Travellers and motorists journeying in and out of the Federal Capital Territory on Friday had some harrowing experiences owing to protests by some aggrieved residents over tenure elongation for council chairmen and councillors whose three years tenure expired same day.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Musa Muhammad Bello had extended the tenure of FCT Council Chairmen and Councillors for another one year.

The extension, he said, followed a Court judgement which affirmed continuity of the incumbent Council Chairmen and their Councillors based on the newly amended Electoral Act.

However, on Friday morning some of the aggrieved residents took to the streets protesting the tenure extension for Chairmen and Councillors in the six Area Councils.

Originally, the Chairmen and Councillors’ three year tenure in office was scheduled to expire on Thursday, May 19, 2022, with the newly-elected officials sworn-in on Friday, May 20, 2022.

Unfortunately, the plan was abruptly stopped by a last minute court judgement leading to the FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello announcing the indefinite suspension of the exercise following the ruling of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

Apparently piqued by the Minister’s unilateral decision to suddenly obey the court ruling extending the officials’ tenure by one year, some residents in the Abuja accused the minister of obeying the APC procured black market judgement

Some of the protesters who spoke to NationalUpdate at Giri Junction where the Abuja-Lokoja road was practically blocked said it was unfortunate that the ruling party is deliberately over-heating the polity with their inordinate ambition instead of allowing the right thing to be done.

The protesters in the Gwagwalada Area Council stormed the Lokoja-Abuja highway on Friday morning, barricading the road and making huge bonfires with used tyres with clear demand for a reversal of the Minister’s decision.

However the quick intervention of security operatives at the scene helped to prevent the breakdown of law and order as it happened in the Deidei Market clash two days earlier, where lives were lost.

The protesters who were seen carrying and displaying placards with different inscriptions such as; ‘You can’t steal our Mandate’; ‘No Tenure Elongation; ‘Stop Manipulating The Minister’; ‘Give Us True Justice’, and ‘Don’t steal the people’s mandate’; amongst others.

Some of the protesters marched on the FCT Minister’s Office in Area 11, Garki while others were seen venting their anger in front of an “FCT :: Magistrates’ Court in Wuse Zone 3, Abuja.

They all expressed disappointment that a court of competent jurisdiction could grant tenure elongation to the outgoing FCT Council officials who were elected and inaugurated based on the provisions of the old Electoral Act, 2010.
Many legal minds, have warned that in an election year this type of confusion should not be allowed in a Federal capital territory.
Most of the legal practitioners who spoke to National Update expressed the understanding that since the outgoing chairmen were elected and inaugurated on the basis of the relevant provisions of the 2010 Electoral Act, which specified three-year tenure for the chairmen and Councilors, it would be injustice to grant them judgement for tenure elongation.