It has come to the notice of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) that some unscrupulous elements are trying to pitch the Executive Chairman of the Council, Hon. Christopher Zakka Maikalangu, against the hardworking FCT Minister, His Excellency Chief Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and, by extension, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
For days now, some unscrupulous elements have been spreading the rumour that, as a fallout of the Presidential Election Petition Court’s judgment in favour of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, some unnamed Abuja natives are planning to approach the Federal High Court for an order mandating the Federal Government of Nigeria to let the FCT to produce a Governor and 3 Senators amongst other peculiarities of a state.
According to the rumour, which is being given prominence by a supposed lawyer on social media, the FCT natives are going to file a motion on notice seeking the order of court restraining His Excellency Chief Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike from parading himself as a minister of FCT pending the hearing and determination of the suit.
We would have ignored the rumour for what it is: a total gibberish and balderdash, but for the wide acceptance it is gaining, hence the need for us to set the records straight and put the rumour mongers in check and to shame.
Since his election in February, 2022, the Executive Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Hon. Christopher Zakka Maikalangu, has focused on delivering democratic dividends to his people, regardless of the shenanigans of unscrupulous elements.
Even when his election was questioned and contested by the opposition, Hon Maikalangu, a law-abiding citizen, who has always believed in our judicial system, preached peace and trusted in the judicial process and was also declared winner of the AMAC election by the FCT Area Council Election Appeal Tribunal in October 2022.
For what it is worth, there is no justification for dragging Maikalangu into rumours by unscrupulous elements that he would leave his constitutional role as AMAC Chairman to administer the FCT as an administrator for whatever reason.
The Presidential Election Petition Court’s judgment has been delivered and dissatisfied parties have indicated interest in approaching the Supreme Court, which is always the acceptable avenue open for law-abiding citizens, believing in res judicata.
Therefore, it is a surprise that a supposed lawyer should be amplifying rumours by unscrupulous elements, thereby indirectly inviting violence, unrest and anarchy by suggesting and encouraging the removal of the FCT Minister, who went through all the processes before being sworn in as the FCT minister.
It should also be noted that at no time did Honourable Maikalangu sanction any group to seek for a temporary court order directing him to administer the FCT as an administrator pending the supposed hearing and determination of an elusive case for the FCT to produce a Governor and 3 Senators amongst other peculiarities of a state.
Having said that, those hell-bent on pitching Maikalangu against the hardworking FCT Minister, His Excellency Chief Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and by extension His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, should desist from such as Maikalangu is not part of such move and will not encourage such plans that will cause breach of peace and security in the FCT.
Just recently, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, broke enviable records by appointing a son of the soil and an FCT native, Hon. Zaphaniah Bitrus Jisalo, Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, a development we have been celebrating as it is first of its kind.
It stands to reason that the people of the FCT and AMAC are fully in support of the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and, therefore, will never do anything to scuttle a government we are part and parcel of, especially as it would amount to shooting ourselves on the foot to contemplate disrupting a peaceful and an inclusive government with any form of agitation.
Lastly, though FCT natives have been begging for a mayoral status, the constitution has always been our guide in whatever we do at AMAC and until the constitution is amended for the FCT to produce a Governor and 3 Senators amongst other peculiarities of a state, rumour mongers should desist from pitching Maikalangu against the hardworking FCT Minister, Excellency Chief Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and by extension His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
Signed
Kingsley Madaki
SSA Media and Public Affairs to the Executive Chairman of AMAC