Plateau APC Elders Endorse Buhari, Lalong

By Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

Plateau All Progressive Congress (APC) Elders Advisory Council on Friday threw its weight behind the re-election of President Mohammadu Buhari and Governor Simon Lalong in the 2019 elections, noting that the two had done very well to deserve a second tenure. 

Chairman of the council, Captain Joseph Din (rtd), who led other members to a press conference, disclosed this while addressing journalists in Jos.  

He said, “We have been following the antecedents of our President Muhammadu Buhari with interests since he came into power in May 2015, especially his vision and mission in the key areas of insecurity, poverty, economic, anti-corruption war, power and agriculture which he promised to tackle.

“As far as we are concerned, security is the bedrock of development as one cannot undertake any meaningful development without adequate security, and this government has tried in the area of provision of adequate security,  considering that it came into power when insurgents were holding 13 local governments in the North East as their territory, and even here in Plateau state, we were devastated but our Armed Forces with the support of government have decimated the insurgents and have reclaimed our territory, this is so because Buhari’s government  has the Political will to defeat the insurgency, no president can say throughout his tenure that there is no skirmishes so he can not exempt himself, we support Buhari because he has shown us beyond reasonable doubt that he has the will power to curtail any insurgency.  

“We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for his recent directive to Military and other security operatives to fish out all the perpetrators of wanton killings of innocent Nigerians particularly in the middle belt zone.

“Also, President Muhammadu Buhari stands out as the first president of Nigeria to openly take the fight against corruption as his agenda, he has done that well hence the improvement in the economy of the country which only the opposition may not see and appreciate, this attack on corruption has today attracted commendation all over the world to the effect that the African Union has appointed him the first chairman of fight against corruption. in Africa.”

They noted that Nigeria was heading own into economic recession when Buhari took over in 2015, due to the falling prices of crude oil in the international market and the long term mismanagement of the economy by the previous government, “nevertheless, this government has been able to steer us away from recession within the shortest time possible.

 

When President Buhari was taking over, he did not promise Nigerians that it was going to be rosy all though, he admitted that Nigerians were going to face challenges in the short term and then rejoice for a long time, due to his economic policies, we have started seeing the difference, for instance, Nigerian produced 15 million metric tons of rice in 2017 alone, we are the largest exporter of yams the world over and we are the  largest producer of cassava the world over, this has reduced the country’s food importation  bill, the mining sector is being developed for better productivity, while the transport sector especially the rail sector has gotten a face lift,  all those among others have provided employment for our youth and reduced poverty.

 

“Based on this, we the elders advisory Council wish to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to re-contest as President come 2019 in spite of the comments made by some eminent citizens calling on him not to re contest and we assure him of our unflinching support.”

 

On Lalong, the APC elders said he had been able to restore peace to the state; he has institutionalised peace and reconciliation through establishment of peace building agency in the state. “Lalong has also continued with uncompleted projects of his predecessors, which has made him carve a niche for himself as this is an effort aimed at uniting the Plateau people as no project can be carried out successfully without peace.”

The elders also commended Lalong for his plans towards rebuilding the burn Jos Main market to boost economic activities in the state

 

Present at the press conference, include Ambassador  Ignatius Longjang (for Deputy governor of Plateau State), Alhaji Dasuki Nakande (former Minister of State for information), Professor Longmak Wapmuk, (former DG ITF), Dr. Nandul Durfa (former CMD Gwagalada Specialist Hospital), Arch Pam Dung Gyang, Former Gubernatorial candidate in Plateau, and Jethro Akun (former deputy governor of the state, and several others.