Abaji chairman seeks Wike’s intervention on council’s challenges

By Uche Bibilari

The Chairman, Abaji Area Council, Mr Abubakar Abdullahi, has appealed to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, to address developmental challenges in the council.

Abdullahi made the appeal during a stakeholders’ meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the Rainbow Coalition in the area.

He said the council was facing delay in the establishment of its proposed University of Science and Technology and prolonged electricity outage.

He said the proposed university was long overdue, adding that he believed it would be inaugurated during Wike’s tenure.

The chairman said the establishment of the institution would improve development in the area and create opportunities for residents.

He also appealed to the minister to intervene in the restoration of electricity supply to the council, noting that the vandalisation of a 32-kilometre electricity line from Pai to Abaji had left the area without electricity for more than one year.

Abdullahi added that artisans in the council are now relocating to nearby towns to do business, a development that has affected the growth of the council.

“By the time you inaugurate this university, Abaji will develop naturally because of that university.

“We have a long-standing issue of electricity in the council. Our vandalised electricity line covers 32 kilometres from Pai to Abaji.

“Abaji Area Council has been without electricity for over a year now; we are pleading for your intervention.

”We know it is not your jurisdiction, but we know with your capacity, you can lend your voice so that the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) can come to our rescue to restore electricity,” Abdullahi said.

The chairman also commended the minister for the construction of a five-kilometre road in the area and a police station.

He said the people of Abaji are committed to supporting the FCT Administration and delivering an outstanding victory for Tinubu.

Abdullahi also promised that Abaji residents would vote for APC candidates, particularly Sen. Philip Aduda for FCT Senate seat and Mr Danladi Chiya for the House of Representatives, Abuja South Federal Constituency.

Also speaking, the Special Assistant to the Chairman on SDGs and Partnership, Ms Asuja Sulaiman, who spoke on behalf of the women in the council, commended the FCT Administration for establishing the Mandate Secretariat for Women Affairs.

Sulaiman said the initiative had provided women with greater opportunities to participate in discussions and programmes relating to their health, businesses, children’s welfare and empowerment.

She appealed for greater inclusion of women from Abaji in government appointments, empowerment programmes, grants, skills acquisition training and decision-making processes.

She said women in the council, as part of their effort to support the president, were organising themselves into groups to ensure they deliver the council in the 2027 election.

She said the women in Abaji were ready and would surely deliver.

In his remarks, Mr Abdulkadiri Lukman, who spoke on behalf of the youths, appealed to Wike to address the inadequate representation of Abaji indigenes in federal and FCT appointments.

Lukman said that in spite of the council’s contributions to the electoral progress of the ruling party, its residents had not benefited significantly from appointments at the federal and FCT levels.

He also appealed for the allocation of land for the establishment of Abaji community quarters in the city centre to accommodate residents of Abaji working in the city.

He said the accommodation would ease the challenges faced by civil servants and other professionals who commute between Abaji and the city centre daily to work.

“Abaji is the farthest area council from the city centre of Abuja and is the southern gate to the Federal Capital Territory. This distance has indirectly denied the youths and the people of Abaji some privileges in government.

“We have civil servants from Abaji who work within the Federal Capital City. One of their major challenges is leaving Abaji to Abuja daily because they do not have accommodation in the city.

“This has discouraged our youths from struggling for federal appointments at the city centre. We are requesting, with your support, to allocate a plot of land to the Chairman of Abaji to establish Abaji community quarters so that our sons and daughters, our technocrats, can have a residence at the city centre,” he said.

Lukman also requested foreign scholarships for qualified youths to study medicine, engineering and other science-related courses, as well as the establishment of a sports centre to promote sporting activities in the council.

He assured the minister that the youths of Abaji would support the re-election of the president in 2027. (NAN)

Edited by Dorcas Jonah