The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) senatorial candidate for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr Juliet Muoneme, has dismissed former Senator Philip Aduda as a threat to her 2027 ambition, challenging voters to judge both candidates by their records.
Muoneme made the declaration on Friday in Abuja during a media engagement with the Association of Corporate Online Editors (ACOE), where she unveiled her policy priorities and campaign agenda for the six area councils of the FCT.
Aduda, who previously represented the FCT in the House of Representatives for eight years and later spent 12 years in the Senate, is seeking a return to the National Assembly in the 2027 elections.
However, Muoneme argued that his two decades in the National Assembly had given residents sufficient opportunity to assess his performance.
“This same FCT, he was here for eight years as a House of Representatives member. This same FCT Senate, he was there for 12 years, meaning 20 years he has been running affairs of FCT,” she said.
She questioned the justification for another bid after such an extended period in the National Assembly.
“If he was that efficient with a lot of projects here and there, does he even need to come out? It is people who should be asking him to recontest,” she added.
The PRP candidate said her own approach to leadership would be built around mentoring younger leaders and deliberately creating a succession structure.
According to her, eight years in office would be enough time to develop a new generation of leaders capable of sustaining good governance.
“With the kind of person I am and with my own kind of ideology, I must have had a lot of mentees through my mentorship programme if privileged to serve for just eight years,” she said.
Muoneme also dismissed suggestions that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, could frustrate her senatorial ambition, stressing that the minister was not contesting for the FCT Senate seat.
“Wike is a minister. He is not looking for FCT Senate. He has his work as a minister,” she said.
She described claimed that Wike had endorsed a particular senatorial candidate as hearsay unless the minister publicly states his position.
While acknowledging the infrastructure projects being undertaken under the FCT administration, Muoneme maintained that the responsibilities of a minister and senator were fundamentally different.
“A minister has his role. A senator has her role. So where exactly is the clash?” she asked.
Speaking on the PRP’s chances against larger political parties, Muoneme argued that the popularity and strength of political parties could be driven by the quality of their candidates.
“Candidates make party. Party is a political platform,” she said, citing the emergence and growth of the Labour Party as an example.
She also stressed that the PRP was established in 1978 and should therefore not be regarded as a new political organisation.
Muoneme said her campaign would be anchored on the FCT RISE Agenda, which she described as a framework centred on representation, research, innovation, inclusion, stewardship, entrepreneurship and empowerment.
Affordable housing, she said, would be a major priority, with plans to promote collaboration between government, property developers and financial institutions to expand access to decent accommodation through mortgage arrangements.
She also proposed the establishment of an automobile hub that would bring together mechanics, auto electricians and other professionals while creating opportunities for practical training for engineering graduates.
The PRP candidate said her interest in human-capacity development predated her political ambition, recalling her involvement in programmes aimed at helping young people facing drug abuse and other social challenges.
She said she had facilitated skills acquisition in areas including tailoring, hairdressing and tie-and-dye, with some beneficiaries receiving loans instead of outright grants.
According to her, repayments from such loans were returned to revolving funds to enable other beneficiaries to access support.
“I felt that one of the things we could do to curb insecurity and tension in an environment was to get the youths gainfully engaged,” she said.
Muoneme also rejected the popular description of Nigerian politics as “dirty”, argued that such a perception had discouraged capable Nigerians from participating in governance.
“Politics is not dirty. Politics is about leadership. Politics is service,” she declared.
She said her professional experience in education, research, entrepreneurship and human-capacity development would inform her approach to representation.
Muoneme further stressed that her ambition extended beyond the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), where she resides, to all six area councils of the FCT.
“I have come as that voice for those area councils that have not been getting the dividends of democracy in terms of development,” she said.
On the persistent clashes between motorists and cattle in parts of the FCT, she advocated ranching and a more organised livestock industry as part of efforts to address the problem.
She also rejected vote buying, arguing that campaign resources should instead be deployed towards legitimate mobilisation, voter engagement and communicating policy ideas.
“Politics is not all about money,” Muoneme said, urging FCT voters to elect candidates based on credibility, competence and capacity to deliver.
She expressed confidence that the 2027 election would provide FCT residents with an opportunity to make their choice based on the records and programmes presented by the various candidates.
