A former Governor of Plateau State, Jonah David Jang, and the state government have been trading words over the recent impeachment of Nuhu Abok Ayuba as the House of Assembly’s Speaker.
Abok was impeached by 16 out of the 24 members of the House and was replaced by Yakubu Sanda, but the issue has continued to generate controversies.
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Commenting on the impeachment via a statement, Jang called on Plateau elders to intervene in the leadership crisis rocking the House of Assembly in order to prevent the interest of a few members from shattering the hope of millions of the Plateau people and to equally stop the situation from degenerating into violence.
The former governor, who also offered to lead a public protest of his supporters to reverse the situation, urged the elders to rise to the occasion and prevail on the State Governor, Simon Lalong, to restore normalcy in the House.
He further explained that despite the effort made by Governor Lalong to distance himself from the happenings in the House, the more it was becoming glaring that the few members who staged the impeachment were acting the script of the governor.
“We are indeed witnesses to the drama which has engulfed the State Assembly simply because a section of the Government wants the Speaker out at all costs.
“While it is unfortunate that these individuals have put their primordial sentiments above reason, and would do anything including making a mockery of the Constitution just to achieve their selfish ends, we cannot fold our arms as the efforts the Plateau people have put to sustain the fragile peace is made nonsense of.
“The hasty nature with which the governor hurriedly received the ‘new speaker’ knowing full well, being a lawyer, that what happened was an aberration, speak volumes.
“Evidence has shown that the numbers required to carry the impeachment are not available to those desperate to remove the speaker, hence they have resorted to using undue force in pushing forth their agenda which is, indeed, not only unconstitutional but shameful.
“The governor must listen to the voice of reason and restore normalcy in the Plateau State House of Assembly; the crisis bedevilling the Assembly has a way of spiralling to affect the lacklustre performance of the government which has already failed in discharging its responsibility to Plateau citizens,” the statement partly read.
N2 billion misappropriation
In a swift reaction, however, the Plateau State government said the statement of the former governor is an attempt to fool the gullible members of the public, and that he is trying to preach what he (Jang) never believed in his entire political life.
The statement by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dan Manjang, stressed that Jang is known for his bigotry and how he had polarized the ethnic groups in the state.
It said the government would not fold its hand and allow anything to derail the peace being enjoyed in the state.
It said Jang by his statement had finally unveiled himself as the person behind the ugly stage-managed incidences in Plateau State which culminated into the recent impeachment saga at the House of Assembly.
“While we do not intend to dignify the former Governor who is the least qualified to preach any morality about democracy in Plateau State and Nigeria because of his anti-democratic credentials, we deem it necessary to put the records straight and save the people of Plateau State and other discerning Nigerians from being whitewashed with false propaganda shrouded in sentiments.
“We consider the open threat by the former Governor to lead a protest on the House saga as a declaration of intent to truncate the peace of the State, and another attempt to continue his efforts in destabilising the State and the Government, having failed during the last Local Government elections which his party the PDP lost out due to his tyranny and dictatorship that gave birth to petitions and court actions that denied his party participation.
“Rather than bear full responsibility, he is shifting blames and looking for a scapegoat.
“Let former Governor Jang know that the Government of the day will not fold its arms and watch the hard-earned peace and stability being rubbished under the guise of protests.
“Since he has openly declared his intentions, he should be ready to bear responsibility for his incitement and threats, should there be a breakdown of Law and Order in the State.
“We also wish to let former Governor Jang know that the Government is fully aware of the role of his radio station JAY FM which has done everything unprofessional in broadcasting to bring down the Rescue Administration of His Excellency Governor Simon Lalong.
“His personal threats are just a confirmation of the tones of falsehood, misinformation, bias, provocative content, and inciting narrative that his radio station churns out day in day out, which has so far failed woefully to persuade the people to support him and his rejected party.
“He remains rejected and has remained a pariah since 2015 when the people embraced the APC and Governor Lalong.
“In any case, we advise him to concentrate on defending his case of misappropriation of 2 billion naira belonging to the people of Plateau State for which he is standing trial before the High Court of Plateau State.
“The people want to know where their money went to and will be glad to have it back at difficult financial times like this.
“After all, the misappropriated money was meant for empowerment of the vulnerable people in the State that the former Governor now claims to be speaking for. They will listen better when they get their money back,” the statement partly read.
