The chairman-elect of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Mr Christopher Zakka has promised to prioritise policies and programmes targeted at meeting the development needs of rural areas within the council.
Zakka, particularly disclosed that his administration will ensure that rural communities get 80 per cent priority attention, in terms of provision of water, electricity, education, roads, health care and other programmes. He also said urban areas would get only 20 per cent. This, he said, will help in widening access to better living standards.
Making this assertion yesterday while addressing reporters on the just-concluded FCT area council election, the chairman-elect commended President Muhammadu Buhari, FCT Minister INEC and security agencies for ensuring a free, fair and credible election in the Territory.
He said: “During our campaigns, we went to many villages in AMAC, because the council is very large, so we have many people suffering in the rural areas.
“There are communities that I and my team went to where we discovered that they don’t have potable water, roads and other social amenities, and if you visit such places, you will shed tears.
“What I’m going to do differently is to focus on these rural areas. I’m giving urban areas 20 per cent, and I’m taking 80 per cent to rural communities. This is because these people need the government’s intervention.
“In the urban areas we have a lot of social amenities already, but I’m telling you the truth that if you visit some of our villages, you would shed tears. So I’m going to focus my attention down to our rural areas, in order to give them a better life.”
He, however, declared the desire to accommodate all the political parties and carry everyone along, in the quest to make AMAC great.
“In my administration, there is nothing like religion or tribal consideration as everybody is welcomed to contribute towards good governance. By the grace of God, we are going to make AMAC great.
“I thank the President, Minister of the FCT, INEC, media, and the entire people of the FCT for coming out in their numbers and voting for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” he stated.