PRESS RELEASE;FCT MINISTER ADMONISHES AREA COUNCIL CHAIRMEN ON GOOD GOVERNANCE …SUES FOR SUPPORT AND SYNERGY

The Honourable Minister, Federal Capital Territory, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has admonished Area Council Chairmen of the FCT on good governance and the need to deliver true dividends of democracy to the electorate.

The Minister gave the admonition in a strong worded address when a delegation of elected officials of the FCT led by Senator Phillip Aduda paid a courtesy visit to the FCTA.

In his words “The level of responsibility bestowed on you as elected representatives  of the people are enormous and in terms of resource allocations, it is only in the FCT that nobody touches your resources. Allocations are made as when they are due as approved by law. So really, no Area Council Chairman can complain of being hindered from doing his job”.

He revealed that the Administration will place emphasis on development in the areas of health, education, security and infrastructure. He reminded the Chairmen that primary education, primary health care and basic sanitation are within the purview of the Area Councils adding that these where “low hanging fruits” that can be properly tackled with more of good governance than politicking.  

Malam Bello further said that the Area Council Chairmen can achieve their mandate with cooperation and synergy. He elaborated on this point by reminding them that the laws setting up the various Boards in the FCT have the Area Council Chairmen as members. He said “Take the laws establishing the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, for instance, the laws setting it up has every council chairman as a member.”

He explained that this was to ensure that every part of the FCT was kept clean at all times. He however lamented that several areas in the Area Councils were not being properly environmentally sanitised. He further elaborated that no matter how hard the FCT Administration was working, if there was no commensurate level of work at the Area Council level, the populace might not see any improvement in services being rendered.

Malam Bello also reminded them that they were also Board members of Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB), Secondary Education Board (SEB) amongst other Boards and they should pay particular attention to what goes on in those agencies so that they can deliver to the people the dividends of democracy

He urged them to make the satellite towns centres of excellence and expressed dismay at the level of untidiness at the satellite towns. He especially frowned at the median of the market road in Gwagwalada, the entrance to the cemeteries in Karu  and the grass on the median along the train station in Bwari, describing them as eye sores and an embarrassment.

He reminded them that the time of governance has commenced as campaigns had long ended while urging them to mobilise their people to engage in community service by cleaning up the environment.

On revenue generation, Malam Bello urged them to take advantage of the Act establishing the FCT IRS to generate revenue while looking inwards to improve on their revenue base.

Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation, Senator Phillip Aduda commended the FCT Minister on his achievements during his first tenure in office and pledged the cooperation and support of all the elected officials of the FCT.

In her remarks, the Honourable Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, called for cooperation and synergy between the elected officials and the FCTA and pledged to work hard to ensure that residents of the FCT received the full dividends of democracy.

In their response, the Area Council Chairmen pledged their support and cooperation to the FCT Administration.

Members of the delegation also included members of the House of Representatives representing the FCT.

ANTHONY OGUNLEYE

CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY

03/10/2019.

FCTA/OCPS/PR/055