By Ene Oshaba
The Labour Paty (LP) Senatorial Candidate Hajiya Ireti Kingibe, has expressed worry over the slow pace of development in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), saying that she decided to run for the position again following her passion to make a difference in the lives of residents.
Ireti Kingibe who stated this while briefing the press in Abuja ahead of the general elections noted that she has been contesting for the position since 2003 not to make money, but to give back to a society that has been good to her.
According to her, development in the FCT is still very slow with no basic amenities such as water, light or good roads in most parts of Abuja apart from the city centre, she therefore assured that she’s bringing credible representation where every resident will feel the impact of government.
“I’m contesting because I see a great laps and lacuna in representation in the FCT I have lived in the FCT since 1988 and its growth has regressed to irrelevance and poverty.
“I grew up in a prosperous Nigeria my first job as an engineer gave me a car and a house in the GRA but now my children, if Nigeria doesnt change they will be 70 and haven’t owned a hut, things must change. At first I didnt want to run anymore because the country is not getting better but worse.
“If you remove Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse, Wuse 2, Central Business District and Airport road from FCT, there is nothing left, development is zero, you can’t go to Nyanya and see any decent road, nowhere has water, nowhere has light.”
“I am bringing credible representation, I’m in a comfortable place that i’m not trying to build a house or do anything else but to give back to the society that was good to me because a nation and government is judged by the wellbeing of the people and its not the case here,” she noted.
Ireti Kingibe who is a former wife of one-time Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babagana Kingibe, recalled that she was educated with federal government scholarship and didn’t lack school fees for one day.
She said most of the roads, schools and other basic infrastructures in the nation’s capital had been in a deplorable state, with little or no effort by the government to fix them.
She added that insecurity has become more prevalent in the FCT which has led to farmers abandoning their farms over the fear of being killed.
According to her, highbrow areas in the FCT are getting undue attention in terms of infrastructure to the detriment of the suburbs which have little or no government presence.
Kingibe said her major focus when elected as Senator representing FCT at the Red Chamber will be to tackle the infrastructural imbalance in the FCT and ensure the issue of insecurity is addressed.
“FCT except for Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) is primarily agrarian, but because of insecurity, nobody can go to the farm. Even if there is insecurity in the land, FCT is the capital, with a little bit of effort, we should be secured in the FCT, but we are at the point where nobody can go to the farm.
“I feel that there is a lack of will to fix insecurity, and what I am bringing to the FCT is goodwill, determination to work, sincerity, integrity and honesty, the things I cannot do, I will tell FCT residents that I cannot do it.
“I pledge to donate my basic salary, if I win the senatorial seat, to a special fund to tackle the infrastructural deficits in rural communities in the nation’s capital.
“I am bringing a credible representation, I am not going there to put anything in my pocket, at my age I have everything that I want, I am not trying to move to a better house, but I want to give back to the society that has been good to me.
“When people ask me if I can reduce the salaries of Senators, I tell them that I don’t think that can happen with me alone, I think that the National Assembly is overpaid but it is not within my scope of duties to be able to do something about it.
“I should be able to pass laws with other Senators if when I get there, we are able to do so together, but notwithstanding that, I can make a difference to the lives of the residents of the FCT and that is basically what I am bringing to the table,” she said.