The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has administered the oath of office on the newly elected Chairmen of Six Area Councils and their Vice chairmen on Tuesday in Abuja.
The oath taking was coming after a recent court order directing the Minister to swear them in.
Three weeks earlier on May 18, 2022, the FCT High Court in Kubwa district suspended the swearing-in of the newly elected chairmen and the councillors, claiming the outgoing chairmen were entitled to an extra year based, according to him, on a provision of the Electoral Act 2022.
Justice Mohammed Ibrahim, who initially issued the order that stopped Minister Muhammad Bello from swearing the elected officials, on Thursday set aside the judgment given in favour of tenure elongation for the six FCT Area Council chairmen and their councilors elected in 2019 for a three-year tenure.
While addressing the Chairmen, Bello urged them to focus on good administration to meet the desires and aspirations of the people.
The Oath of Office was administered to the Chairmen and their vice by the Chief Judge of the FCT, Justice Hussaini Yusuf, who was represented by Justice Suleiman Belgore.
The minister also urged them to follow the Oath of Office, the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution, and the FCT’s norms and regulations.
According to the Minister: “The time of electioneering campaign is over. Now it is time to face and focus on good governance to ensure that electorate enjoys more dividends of democracy in the territory.
”You should accord priority attention to Primary Health Care (PHC) services; sanitation primary education and other basic social amenities,” Bello said.
Meanwhile, the Mandate Secretary for FCT Area Councils Services Secretariat, Abubakar Dantsoho, also enjoined the chairmen to prioritize their area of concentration.
He said, ” You were elected to perform and you are going to be judged by your performance. You can see about three of them were reelected if they have not performed well I’m sure they will not be elected by the electorate.
”So, it is a very big challenge, it is not a time for a jamboree. It is time for governance and I urge them to do their best otherwise we will be out for them.
”At the FCT Area Council Services Secretariat we are very in charge of the area councils and we will be going after them, inspecting their programmes and whoever does not perform we will let the law take its course.”
Earlier, the chairmen, while taking their Oath of Office pledged to defend the constitution of Nigeria and abide by the rules and regulations guiding the running of FCT without any fear or favour.
They also vowed to govern in fairness, devoid of discrimination against all residents, irrespective of political, ethnic or religious affiliations, even as they promised to discharge their duties to the best of their abilities in honesty and integrity