FCT Area Council Polls: Nigerian youths submit citizens’ demands to candidates, others

Ahead of the Federal Capital Territory council election coming up on Saturday, youth of the nation’s capital have held a peaceful march to the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, demanding accountability and open budgeting by those who would emerge as the new chairmen.

The youths who walked from the Federal Secretariat to the FCTA bearing placards with inscriptions such as ‘Functional local governments, better communities’, ‘Local governments/Area Councils central to the provision of essential services, including primary healthcare, basic education, environmental sanitation and community infrastructure’, called for proper allocation management of LG/Council Area funds.

They said that the Council Areas in the FCT should be used as points of contact to all seven hundred and seventy-four local government areas across the federation.

The youths, led by Mr Emmanuel Obiabo, lamented that the Supreme Court judgement which granted a full autonomy to the local government has not been effectively implemented by the states.

“So that is one of our demand if the Supreme Court given the ruling or the federal government has done their part by taking the 36 states of the Federation up to the Supreme Court, we need that to be implemented the FCT.

“We need also the local government leaders, the chairman to adopt open budgeting. There is also a responsibility of the local government, even though they have rights to the allocation, even though they have rights to autonomy and administration, they also have a duty to make sure that they have accountable and transparent budgeting system.

“We do have a way to track money is being allocated to the Area Councils. We’re currently tracking the local government funding, the allocation to the local government, and we put this every other day on our social media platforms. But in terms of how the money is spent, there is little or no information available on that, and this is part of our demand.

“The local government is the third tier of government and is closest to the people. So if we get it right at the local government level, then we have gotten a lot of things right, and that’s why we are particular about the Local governments.

“As long as the problems continue to persist, then our advocacies and our efforts will continue.

In a charter of demands meant for the Mandate Secretary, Area Council Services Secretariat, FCTA, the youths said that going forward they want to see, financial transparency and public pccountability, efficient, responsive, and professional administration, community participation and stakeholders engagement, due process and rule-based governance.

“There should be mandatory public disclosure of budgets, allocations, expenditures, and Internally Generated Revenue. Outstanding community development projects must be executed and completed without further delay,” they further demanded.

“Routine maintenance of roads, markets, waste management systems, and public facilities should be prioritised, particularly within AMAC, Bwari, Kuje, and Gwagwalada. Primary healthcare and basic education service delivery across Area Councils must be strengthened as a matter of urgency.”