2023: Traditional rulers warned to stay away from partisan politics

In the build up of the 2023 general elections, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has admonish the 17 graded Chiefs of Abuja and other district heads to avoid partisan politics.

Hon. Ibrahim Abubakar Dantsoho, Mandate Secretary Area Councils Services Secretariat, issued the warning during a meeting with all graded Chiefs held in his office.

Dantsoho revealed that the meeting was convened at the request of FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, saying that the warning has become necessary in light of alleged comments from some traditional rulers.

He stated that the traditional rulers should be fathers to all candidates aspiring for political offices, stressing that as custodians of traditional values and norms, they should stay away from partisan politics.

In his words, “I know many politicians will be coming to your palaces to seek royal blessings and there is nothing wrong with such visits.

“However, you should not use your God-given position to overtly or covertly campaign for any political party. You should also guide against certain utterances that can overheat the polity.

“I know as humans, you have the constitutional right to support any party of your choice, but you are not expected to show it openly given your fatherly role in society.

“The FCT Administration is doing its best, and we should all work together so that we can all be on the same page”.

he went further to use the avenue to task traditional rulers to beef up security in their respective domains, just as he acknowledged pockets of security challenges in some selected chiefdoms.

According to him “So many things have been happening in the FCT rural areas and under your jurisdictions. We need to get feedback to know the areas where we as Administrators can come in.
”I know that issues of security are not an issue that only one or two person seat to discuss because the chiefdoms share borders and boundaries, and as such, there is need for expanded round table discussions”.

He further assured the traditional rulers that the Administration was doing everything possible to upgrade those who deserved to be upgraded, adding that plans are on top gear to provide utility vehicles to some of the graded chiefs in hard-to-reach communities.

In their separate responses, the traditional rulers pledged to support the FCT Administration towards successful and peaceful elections come 2023.