FCT Senatorial Seat: Aduda heads to Tribunal to challenge result

By Iyojo Ameh

Barely three weeks after the conduct of Presidential and National Assembly Elections which produced Ireti Kingibe as Senator – elect for the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) , her closest rival , Senator Tanimu Aduda has vowed to challenge result of the election at the tribunal .

Senator Aduda who doubles as the Minority Leader of the 9th Senate , told journalists at the National Assembly on Thursday that his plan of litigating against result of the election arose from the fact that result was announced when collations at the Abuja Municipal Area Council ( AMAC) , were yet to be completed and even with utter disregard to results cancelled in other polling units across the 62 wards in Six Area Councils.

“The election as guided by the extant laws used by the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) , supposed to have been declared inconclusive .

” Pointedly in substantial numbers of the polling units , there were over voting which led to cancellation of results that supposed to have been revisited by INEC through rescheduled election but from nowhere, we had that results were declared.

“We are going to challenge it”, he said .

On capacity and service delivery to FCT residents over the years , Senator Aduda said : “Within my twelve years in the Senate and eight years in the House of Representatives , a lot of development – driven projects have been facilitated by me across the 62 wards and Six Area Councils , many of which are still ongoing ”

His words : ” I believe it is the person declared as winner of the election that has no capacity because if she has the capacity common Google will show her what I Have done.

‘It will show you that I led a protest to this place. On the floor of the Senate I had to discuss about this issue of Naira redesign and other motions on issues of urgent national importance .

” We have a road we are constructing in Kubwa, Over N1b, another one in Nyanya, over N1b, we have the ones we are doing in Bwari, if I don’t have the capacity and can not represent the people I don’t think I can attract those projects to rhe various communities or Area Councils . I am not talking of Gwagwalada or Kwali or Kuje, I am only talking about the urban center, the environment here.

” These are aside very important bills sponsored by me , passed by the National Assembly and assented to , by President Muhammadu Buhari like the one on the Federal College of Education Zuba that has been there for over 17 years without graduation until we passed that bill .

Other bills are ÷ Federal Capital Territory Area Councils (Administration & Political Structure) Bill, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, Bill, Federal Capital Territory University of Science & Technology Abaji, Bill, Federal Capital Territory Hospital Management Board Bill, Federal Capital Territory water Board Bill, Federal Capital Territory Transport Authority Bill, FCT Civil Service Commission Bill, Federal Capital Territory College of Nursing and Midwifery bill, FCT Health Insurance agency Bill etc .

He added that he put on ground infrastructure in various areas like provisions of classrooms, Primary Health Care centers, Provision of portable water, Provision of Rural electrification, Construction of roads across the area councils in the FCT, Small & Medium Scale empowerment programmes and Provision of student bursary to over three thousand (3,000) beneficiaries drawn across the sixty two (62) electoral wards of the six (6) Area Councils.