By Daniel Tyokua
The Coalition of FCT concerned youths have threaten to stage a peaceful protest in the nation’s capital, Abuja if the minister Malam Muhammad Bello and the chief judge fail to expedite action on the swearing – in of the Area Councils chairmen and councillors elect.
Briefing journalists on Tuesday in Abuja, the Convener Joshua Yohana Dangiwa said the minister of FCT should ensure that fairness and Justice is done in the case.
He said the youths are peace loving people but would be left with no option than to go the opposite and resist any attempt to continue to frustrate the swearing – in of the chairmen and councillors which is long overdue.
Recall that Abuja High Court had recently ruled that the current chairmen’s tenure should be extended by one year, since then it has been raising dust.
Justice Ibrahim Mohammed of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in suit No. FCT/HC/W/910/2022, had ruled: “Based on the Electoral Act 2022, which stipulates that the tenure of office of the chairmen of the area councils in FCT would now be four years, instead of three, the existing chairmen, whose tenure were meant to expire on May 20, 2022 have another one year in office.”
“When we had the protest at the Minister’s office, the permanent secretary came out to address us that they were going to get back to us but a day later we were told that the case has been appeal, if this case has been appeal we know what it means. Our greatest surprise is that the case was appeal and meant to strike out, no judgement was past.
“Last Wednesday, we were at the appeal court to hear the outcome of the judgement but the judge called the lawyers out for them to meet in their office, they came out and said the judgement can’t be past till Monday, yesterday and the same action that happened last week play out again,there was no setting, the case has been referred to the FCT High Court Kubwa, where it started”
Dangiwa described the ongoing development as a ‘kangaro’ judgement that has no sanity, saying the process is fully of manipulations.
According to him, it would be wrong to refer back a judgement to a court that the case started, there was no judgement and date that the next setting will be.
“We are urging the Chief Judge of the FCT to maintain sanity in the judiciary by doing the needful, we have seen the judiciary as a last hope of a man, so there should be sanity. We are embarking on the protest for the right thing to be done, as peace loving people we don’t want to take laws into our hands,” he said.
