Indigenous residents of Abuja have presented a charter of demands calling for far-reaching political and administrative reforms, including the creation of three senatorial districts in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to address what they describe as decades of marginalisation, injustice, and political exclusion.
The demands were presented on Tuesday by the FCT Stakeholders’ Assembly during a media briefing to mark the 50th anniversary of the creation of the FCT.
Speaking at the briefing, President of the FCT Stakeholders’ Assembly, Aliyu Kwali, said the original inhabitants of the territory are also seeking the creation of additional federal constituencies to address chronic underrepresentation at the National Assembly.
He further called for the reclassification of the existing Area Councils into full-fledged Local Government Areas, in line with what obtains in other states of the federation, as well as the establishment of inclusive governance structures that would guarantee indigenous participation in decisions affecting their lives and communities.
Dr Kwali noted that while the Federal Government may be celebrating achievements in urban planning, architecture, and infrastructure development, the 50th anniversary of Abuja holds a painful and contrasting significance for its original inhabitants.
“For us, these five decades are not a story of celebration but one of systematic dispossession, exclusion, and marginalisation,” he said.
According to the stakeholders, indigenous communities in the FCT have borne deep and enduring scars over the years, including socio-economic segregation, loss of ancestral lands and traditional livelihoods, forced demolitions of homes, destruction of cultural and historical sites, desecration of burial grounds, and entrenched poverty driven by public policy.
“These are not abstract grievances; they are lived realities that distinguish indigenous FCT communities from other Nigerian citizens—not by choice, but by constitutional and administrative design,” Kwali said.
He referenced Section 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees freedom from discrimination, lamenting that in practice, original inhabitants of the FCT continue to be denied rights routinely enjoyed by other Nigerians.
Kwali further alleged that through legislation and administrative actions, successive federal governments have imposed restrictions and disabilities on indigenous FCT communities solely on the basis of their identity as original inhabitants.
“This pattern is most visible in the persistent forced demolitions often carried out without adequate notice, assessment, compensation, or resettlement—a practice that remains largely peculiar to indigenous communities in the FCT,” he stated.
He cited communities such as Gishiri, Karsana, and Kuchibedna as examples of areas that have suffered repeated demolitions, reinforcing the perception that development in the nation’s capital continues to occur at the expense of its first inhabitants.
The stakeholders called on the Federal Government to use the milestone anniversary as an opportunity to correct longstanding injustices and ensure equity, inclusion, and political representation for indigenous FCT communities.
