Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senator-elect Ireti Kingibe has pledged to give the indigenous people of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) adequate representation in the 10th Senate.
Speaking after receiving her return certificate at the International Conference Centre, Abuja on Tuesday, Ms. Kingibe also promised to work with the FCT Minister as a representative of the people.
He said that policies must be implemented so that the FCT has more benefits like other states in the country.
“FCT is supposed to be treated like a state. It’s not a state, but if certain policies are implemented, we can access all the things that other states do. Now, those policies have to be written and approved. Those are some of the things we are expected to do differently,” he said.
She listed security, the housing shortage and the lack of adequate water supply as other issues that will be addressed at the FCT.
When asked about indigenous people who might worry about not getting adequate representation as she is not an FCT indigenous person, Ms Kingibe said that a candidate’s tribe or religion does not matter, but rather their ability to carry out the task for which you vote.
“Almost all the presidents of the FCT are indigenous. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how you represent yourself but who works for you,” she said.
“The FCT Senator is an indigenous person. He has been there for 20 years. If they’re not adequately represented, it’s the caliber of people they bring there, not the tribe that matters. There must come a time in this country when your tribe doesn’t matter. He is your character. What can you do? Your ability.
She said that while she is not indigenous to the FCT, she has lived in the capital city long enough to know the problems of the people and how to address them.
The 68-year-old senator-elect, who claimed to have lived in the FCT since 1988, vowed that people will see a difference.
“They will see a difference and they will know that what matters is not the tribe of who represents them, but what the person brings to the table, what the person is willing to do, that is what matters most. And when Nigerians move away from tribe and religion to capacity. Then we would have become the nation we should be.”
Ms. Kingibe is married to a former Federation Government Secretary, Babagana Kingibe.
Philip Aduda, who is replaced by Ms. Kingibe in the Senate, is an indigenous member of the FCT. He represents the FCT in the National Assembly since 2003, first in the House of Representatives (from 2003 to 2011) and in the Senate from 2011 to 2023.
ALSO READ: Election: Tension in Kano as police, political parties allege importation of foreign thugs
Before Aduda moved to the Senate, the FCT had been represented in the upper house by two non-indigenous: Khairat Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe from kwara stateand Isa Maina from Borno State.
Ms. Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe is the sister of the current Governor of Kwara State, but she is married to Lawan Gwadabe, an indigenous man from Jigawa State.
