The leadership of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Resident YouthS Association, has called on the Senator representing the FCT, Philip Aduda, to ensure more youth participation and inclusion in democratic process within the FCT.
The association made the call after the Senator’s declaration for third term in the red chamber.
In a statement issued to journalists by president of the Association, Ambassador Akoshile Mukhtar, at the 3rd Ramadan Iftar programme organised to host members, propagate peace and share love among members in Gwagwalada, said: “More than 65% of our members are born, bred and married in FCT, despite having non-indigenous parents and our contributions to the growth and development of the Federal Capital Territory cannot be overemphasized.”
He noted that the many years of advocacies of the Association to ensure inclusion of Resident Youths in governance in FCT have yielded significant progress at the Area Council’s level and the Federal Capital Territory Administration level.
According to him, “However, the senatorial representation style since 2011 has constantly been so weak and refused to aggregate the interests of the Resident Youths, a clear indicator of a non-inclusive representation.
“To a large extent, the yearning and aspiration of the FCT Resident’s Youth Association on inclusive governance is being considered by the Area Councils and the FCT administration but the representation, especially at the red chamber of the National Assembly for almost three (3) terms now has continued to exclude the Resident Youth community despite the regular support and votes that the members of the Association have provided in successive elections.
“It is imperative to note that by the virtue of our birth, upbringing and some who are married, we have no other place to call home than the FCT” the statement said.
The President expressed his confidence in the capacity and competence of the members of the Association to make meaningful and mutually beneficial input to representation in FCT, a potential that has been left untapped for several years.
He alluded to the failure of the mayoral status bill at the Senate as an opportunity to liberate the people of FCT that was lost again and reiterated the residents Youth support to reawaken the bill.
He further stated that there is a unanimous agreement by members of the Association that their support and votes in the upcoming general election would be for individuals and party that is ready to pledge for inclusion of Resident Youth in its administration beyond 2023 and had chosen a date to follow up with a letter of protest on this regard to all constituted related authorities.