‘We Don’t Have Senator’ — FCT Indigenes Decry Ireti Kingibe’s Alleged Inaction Amid Insecurity

There’s a storm brewing against the senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, for her alleged inaction in the face of persistent kidnapping and killings in her constituency.

The senator who was declared winner of the senatorial election in the FCT in February, 2023 had promised among other things to work closely with the government to provide security and ensure quality representation.

“I assure every one of you that even though the tasks ahead of us are really enormous, I will not disappoint you and I promise to face the challenges,” the senator had said during her lavish reception after her swearing-in June, 2023.

But seven months in, the soft spoken senator appears to be out of the scene in the FCT, forcing the indigenes who live largely in satellite towns where insecurity is pervasive to question her representation.

Expressing the grievances of the Original Inhabitants Development Association of Abuja (OIDA) in an exclusive interview with THE WHISTLER on Thursday, its president, Pastor Danladi Jeji, decried the senator’s absence and lack of words or encouragement at a time she’s most needed.

A visibly angry Jeji said, “I have called her many times, she doesn’t pick my calls. How can I talk to her? She doesn’t know we are here.

“That’s the situation. If she has not talked to me, how do I know? What do we do?

“She doesn’t even call anybody.”

He said the senator feels everything is alright and so could cosy up in her comfort zone.

“She thinks everything is alright but it’s not.

“I call her line, she doesn’t pick. We are helpless,” he lamented, adding that the senator had not passed a word of sympathy or concern to the people.

“Do you know that the FCT does not have a government? FCT doesn’t have a Senator. FCT doesn’t have a representation,” he added.

He explained that FCT has continued to be cheated in everything including having “a real and proper representation” like other states but “we don’t have that system here because the constitution says we are not a state but some area councils.”

He said the treatment being meted out to the FCT is wrong, asking “If the FCT doesn’t have a government or representation, why won’t there be insecurity?

“The issue is that if the election is won here you will say it is FCT. But it’s all of you Nigerians, are we part of it? Do we know how they vote?

“Are we having a senator here?

“Since her election, she does not pick my call, what do I do ? In this situation, since she doesn’t pick calls, do I go for her or she will come for me?

While the senator was not available for comment as her telephone lines failed to connect, her media aide, Nana Kazaure, ignored several calls made to her telephone line. A follow up message was not responded to as of the time of filing this report.

A member of OIDA who said he was in the campaign team of the senator, who preferred not to be named, lamented that, “She does not pick calls. She also has no constituency office.

“She just shut herself off from the people. Go across the FCT, everyone is complaining especially the indigenes who massively voted for her after rejecting financial inducement from other parties.

“It’s a tale of regret and anger. There’s an increasingly brewing resentment against the senator.”

Warning that her alleged inaction will eventually come home to roost, he said for now, “We can accept she scammed us. Things definitely will change in 2027.”

A Youth Leader in Bwari Area Council, Ayuba Muktar told THE WHISTLER that “We don’t need anything from her. All we need is her concern.

“Imagine the town hall meeting that the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, held on Wednesday, you would have expected Senator Kingibe to attend but she stayed away.

“But former senator, Philip Aduda attended. That’s a leader. That’s the kind of leader that we need, to show concern, take part in what affects us and chart a way out.

“Now, we in Bwari can’t sleep. We don’t sleep because our people are abducted and killed everyday but there’s a senator who was elected to represent us who is cooling off somewhere.

“It’s regrettable. It was a big mistake. Like our president, Jeji has said, she is on her own. She doesn’t show concern for us. She doesn’t pick calls. She doesn’t involve us in anything.

“What happened to the palliative this government gave her like other senators? Who did she share it to?

“In 2027, she will come seeking votes for reelection by telling us why she failed and blame the ruling party. But I am happy everyone is seeing what’s happening,” he said.