The demand was made at the inaugural meeting of the FCT Stakeholders’ Assembly held in Gwagwalada, where leaders described the agitation as a united push against long-standing marginalisation, not an ethnic conflict.
President of the Assembly, Dr. Aliyu Daniel Kwali, said the choice of Gwagwalada was deliberate, describing it as the historical and cultural heart of the proposed Abuja State.
He stressed that original inhabitants and residents of the FCT are united and determined to secure statehood, insisting the struggle is rooted in economic and political exclusion, not religion or ethnicity.
Speakers at the meeting also called for constitutional reforms, including equal citizenship rights, land protection, and the abolition of the indigene-settler divide.
The Assembly urges dialogue, inclusion, and justice, declaring the renewed push for FCT statehood a strategic step toward fairness, representation, and democratic equality.
