Former governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, has accused the outgoing state governor, Simon Lalong, of derailing the development of the state in the last eight years. He alleged that governance in the state had nosedived under Lalong’s watch to the extent that the incoming administration would not be envied for the enormity of work it would have to do in rebuilding the people’s trust in government, programmes, and policies.
Jang, in a statement released on Monday through his media consultant, Clinton Garuba, said, “At a time when sections of the state have come under attacks from people hell-bent on waging genocide on the people, the government is rather hurriedly inaugurating projects, some of which it even inherited as ongoing projects of the Jang administration to cover for the eight years of nothingness”.
Jang also claimed that the government realised too late that it had only pursued political gains to the detriment of the general well-being of the state, and is in a hurry to claim that it did something when in fact it did almost nothing.
According to Jang, the ruling All Progressives Congress’s woeful performance in Plateau State during the last general elections was a testimony to the alleged failure of Lalong’s administration. “Had they done better, the Plateau people would have said so through the ballot box. Having failed, the best thing would be to quietly leave and continue with the lobby for appointment at the federal level where he (Lalong) had spent years of servitude abandoning the state to suffer a lack of leadership and governance,” he said.
Jang urged the Governor-elect, Caleb Mutfwang, not to spare any effort in rebuilding the state when he assumes office on May 29.
When the state Commissioner for Information, Dan Manjang, was contacted for a reaction, he said, “I’m a member of the state Executive Council. We are not ready to take issues with retrogressive elements. That’s our position.”
