Plateau commissioner tackles Jang over comment on Lalong

Plateau State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Yakubu Dati, has reacted to comments attributed to the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Jonah Jang, who on Tuesday alleged that Governor Simon Bako Lalong governs the state from Abuja.

Jang was also quoted to have said at the recent PDP governorship flag-off in Mangu that he did not build the new Government House at Little Rayfield for Governor Lalong to occupy and therefore advised the incumbent governor to begin evacuation before the general elections.

However, Yakubu Dati on Thursday recalled that the former governor had made a similar boast while in office when he said he will not hand over the keys to the new Government House to any outside his family circle.

Dati stated that the people of Plateau had in 2015 reminded Jang through their votes that he did not build the Government House with his money and that they know the essence of democracy and cannot allow one man dictate to them who should govern them.

He said while it is not true that Lalong governs Plateau from Abuja, it should be made clear that the importance of getting the support of the federal government to complement the efforts of the state government towards bringing development to the state cannot be downplayed.

“That is why in less than two years after he assumed office, Governor Lalong has been able to complete the projects abandoned by the former administration, clear the backlog of salaries left by the Jang administration, pay pension and student bursary, revive the fish pond at Panyam, supply tractors and fertilizers to farmers and achieve sustainable peace in the state,” he said.

While describing as ‘poorly attended,’ the rally of the PDP in Mangu, the commissioner stated that it was unfortunate that Jang could face the people of Plateau and make claims of good governance when his tenure as governor was one of the worst in the history of the state.

Dati described as rude that despite being charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) over misappropriation of the state funds, Jang would talk down on the same people he had caused untold hardship and suffering to through the harsh policies of his administration “which recognized only family and friends and to remind them of the arrogant and divisive manner he had governed the state.”

“The comments by the former governor at Mangu came as a re-enactment of the arrogance, high handedness, contempt and insensitivity to the plight of the people the previous administration was known for, which had thrown the state into crises and caused Plateau so much pain and agony while giving a few in the former governor’s family circle the opportunity to plunder the state.”

He said Lalong runs an all inclusive government and that unlike his predecessor, does not in any way regard himself as being above the people of the state and as such cannot dictate to the people.

“These are welcome departure from the tenure of Jang when due to lack of capacity and inability to interface beyond clannish cleavages, the state was thrown into needless crises to the extent that many agencies and parastatals of the federal government with presence in the state were being relocated to other parts of the country.”