Seriki Adinoyi in Jos
Following the widespread irregularities that characterised last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections across the nation, a former governor of Plateau State, Senator Jonah Jang, has admonished the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to redeem its image from the generally poor perception Nigerians hold about the commission by striving to conduct a credible governorship polls by next Saturday.
In a statement he signed, Jang also tasked all election stakeholders, including INEC and security agencies, to do what is necessary to forestall a repeat of the shortcomings of the presidential and National Assembly polls.
He pointed out that INEC, in particular, should recognise that the destiny of the over 200 million Nigerians has been entrusted to them and that setting the nation on fire wilfully, either by omission or commission, is unpatriotic, and only posterity will judge.
The former governor also warned that a vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 11 governorship and state House of Assembly elections will be a subscription to further hardship and neglect suffered by Plateau people of the state in the past eight years.
He recalled that “the last eight years brought us untold hardship; we were almost robbed of our identity. Forces alien to us took control and nearly destroyed everything we stood for, all in an attempt to curry personal favour from the government at the centre; we cannot afford to endure another eight years of total misrule; we must resist those who attempt to coerce our mind into believing that we are second class people.”
He added that the pains and lessons of the past eight years, when APC was in government both in Plateau and at the national level but with no benefit, was instructive. “Let us, therefore, vote for a governor who will have the backing of the State and National Assembly members in pursuing the interests of the Plateau people.”
Admonishing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jang said, “The manipulated presidential poll should propel us to do what is right to put all our candidates on a winning streak in the Saturday elections.
“We should not allow our emotions to overtake our sense of purpose at this time; the successes achieved in the past elections must be the driving force for more outstanding achievements in the forthcoming polls, which are indeed, local.
“Having secured five out of eight House of Representatives positions and two Senatorial positions already in the kitty with a third on the horizon, we should be working hard to install a governor and a House of Assembly that will join hands to stand for the interest of our dear state.”
Calling on Plateau electorate to vote for the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Barrister Caleb Mutfwang, and other candidates of the party for State House of Assembly elections, Jang said, “I call on all, including the Obidents not to lose faith, but join hands with the PDP to redeem our heritage. We must insulate Plateau by voting for the PDP, and must force INEC to make our votes count.”
