Daily Trust

RESIDENTS of Gwagwalada Area Council are complaining over the relocation of government parastatals and agencies from satellite towns to the city centre in Abuja.
They called on the federal government to reverse the order in order to bring development to their community.
City News investigation shows that the FCT Muslims Pilgrims Board and the Sharia Court of Appeal have relocated from Gwagwalada while their empty offices are being guarded by security men.

Other government establishments alleged to be making such move from the area to the city centre, are the Customs, Immigrations and Prisons Pension Office, FCT Command of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as well as the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).
A visit to some agricultural agencies owed by the federal government at Kwali, also shows that most management staff in such places operate from the city as few staff were seen in the offices.

Alhaji Usman Yahaya, a resident, said such relocation is a waste of resources and will affect junior staff, in terms of transportation as well as accommodation.

Yahaya, who is also as the secretary of Gwagwalada Area Council, said no cogent reason can be summed for relocating the Muslim Pilgrims Board and Sharia Court of Appeal from Gwagwalada, after building multimillion naira structures for them.
He said the relocation would amount to wastage on the part of government and called for immediate government action to reverse the relocation decision.

Another resident, who is a junior staff of one of the relocated agencies, lamented that the decision will greatly inconvenience him, especially when the commercial transportation system is chaotic in Abuja.