“Governor Lalong Is Rescuing Plateau From Your Legacy Of Corruption”, APC Fires Back At PDP.

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We are again constrained to respond to the repeated and nauseating ranting of the factional spokesperson of the nearly non-existent Plateau State PDP, John T. Akans, who woke up with another concoction of lies and innuendos claiming that his party is vindicated over the “massive corruption and incompetence of the Lalong administration”.

His misguided salvo according to him is hinged on a so-called public letter generated by an amorphous and faceless group called Plateau Rescue Front (PRF) which claims to be part of the APC.

We are not surprised that the factional spokesperson of the PDP has nothing with which to attack the Government of Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong, than adopting a so-called public letter by this unknown and mischievous group as the basis of his sermon and homily.

This vindicates the fact that the PDP in Plateau State is in total disarray and on the verge of total collapse where it only feels that its survival can only be guaranteed when it de-markets the APC or attack Governor Simon Lalong with lies and fabrications. They are definitely still hurting from their rejection by the people of the State in 2015 and 2019 as well as the persistent fragmentation of the party by various interest groups which also happened recently when they held their congresses.

First, we do not want to glorify the letter purportedly written by the so-called PRF because it is obviously the handiwork of agents of the PDP who want to discredit the Rescue Administration of Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong at all costs. Clearly, this group cannot be described as stakeholders of the APC as they are not known to the party, much as the PDP will like people to believe. They are equally not card carrying members of the party. They do not even qualify as members of the caucus of the APC. Rather, they are definitely fronting for the PDP hiding under pseudo acronyms so as to engineer the kind of distraction and confusion that is bedeviling the PDP ever since they fell out of power. If they were members of the APC and truly concerned, they would have availed themselves of the party’s structure to make their case or approach government directly. Besides, their claims are bogus, wild and unsubstantiated.

It is rather depressing and laughable for the PDP whose reputation for corruption is legendry to accuse the Lalong administration of taking huge loans without constructing a single lane of road in the State when it is obvious that the PDP looted the monies they claimed to have spent on projects during their years in power only to leave the State with huge contractual obligations which the Lalong administration has committed to addressing. Have they forgotten that the EFCC is still battling to trace billions allegedly carted away by some officials in the last PDP administration?.

Maybe the PDP has forgotten the retinue of the uncompleted projects it bequeathed to the APC which Governor Simon Lalong instead of following the tradition of jettisoning projects of preceding administrations, decided to complete in the general interest of the people. The Mararaban Jama’a to Joseph Gomwalk Secretariat flyover road is one of such roads which the previous government abandoned that the Lalong administration completed. The Rantya, Low cost, Rafiki, Dong roads were initiated and completed by the present administration, yet the PDP sees no “single road”.

The other wild allegation is that the Government spent 4.5 billion naira on luxury cars and a whopping 1.4 billion to install GPRS tracking devices on 100 of them, amounting to 14million naira per car. How much does a car cost that it will take 14million naira to track it? This outrageous and malicious lie does not deserve any response because this fiction is only in the head of the authors who clearly have nothing to raise than this spurious lies and contraptions. In as much as all reasonable persons will never buy this lie, we advise the PDP to remember that opposition does not amount to destruction and fabrication of libelous and defamatory content.

Not satisfied with the loose and outrageous allegations, the factional PDP image maker alleged without substance that fake potatoes seedlings worth 13 million US dollars was purportedly imported by Governor Lalong, using one of the APC House of Representative member. Why is he not forthcoming with the name of the House of Representatives since he is out for a kill? It is very unfortunate for a party which is thirsty for power, having lost same due to its corruption to go utterly berserk in publishing lies just to draw attention and sympathy of the public. Has Akans heard about the Potato Value Chain partnership between the African Development Bank and Plateau State? Can he please visit the Potato Tissue Culture Laboratory in Mangu and see things for himself? Has he taken a tour of the potato market stalls in Ryom, Bokkos (his LGA), Barkin Ladi among others? We refer him to the Potato Value Chain Management Office for details of how farmers have been empowered with irrigation pumps and other incentives. He will also definitely be educated on the research that has now confirmed that potato can successfully be cultivated in the 17 Local Governments of Plateau State.

The barefaced lies continued with the assertion that the Government spent 11 billion naira within few months in the fight against Covid-19. This raises serious concerns on the real intentions of the PDP and their obsession with the corona virus pandemic. How much does Plateau State get in a month, much more devote 11 billion naira to fight Covid 19? We are not only disappointed by this outrageous fabrication, but also concerned that the PDP is still desperate in trying to use Covid-19 (a public health tragedy) as a popularity gimmick for re-inventing its damaged and perforated umbrella. They are clearly disappointed that the APC Government resisted their attempt to make Covid-19 a bazaar like it was obtained during their infamous era so that they will loot the money and LIVE on the disease. For the records, the Government did not spend anything near such amount on Covid-19 and has kept the books open for anyone who is interested in finding out the true picture of the efforts to curb the disease. The hypothetical figures copiously quoted by Akans (N500 million for fumigation; N40 million for facemasks; N50 million for sanitizers; N30 million for soap) are highly misleading and clearly meant to steer public outrage against the performing Lalong Rescue Administration with the hope of attracting sympathy to the moribund PDP. The discerning people of Plateau State already know that members of the PDP are salivating over Covid-19 funds which would have been shared if they were in power. By the way, the PDP through their factional spokesperson should tell the people of Plateau State how much they contributed to the Plateau Covid-19 Endowment Fund which he puts at N200 million. The records show that they did not put in a dime! They are only interested in eating from it while hiding under the cover of advocacy and transparency. Very soon we shall make public the antecedents of members of the PDP who have been desperate to have to have their fingers on Covid funds and LIVE fact on it. In the day, they are corona virus activists and advocates, but in the night, they crawl Necodimusly for PALLIATIVES, yet they shamelessly attack the APC Government.

Indeed the PDP factional spokesperson is sounding like a broken record each time he sets out to cook up or adopt accusations of mischief makers against the Governor. Accusing Governor Lalong of nepotism without any substantiation is to say the least playing to the gallery and trying to re-enact what the last PDP administration was reputed for which contributed to their rejection by the people of Plateau State. Lalong has made the difference by carrying everyone along and standing up for the rights of every ethnic group and religious affiliation.

Plateau people have continued to applaud the Governor for giving all Local Governments and political zones their entitlements which are under his purview while also pushing for the appointment of suitable Plateau sons and daughters into Federal positions without any discrimination.

Without glorifying the empty tantrums of the PDP, we want to advice its factional image maker to focus on rescuing the umbrella from the brink particularly since the outcome of its disputed congresses. We also advise the factional spokesman that in modern day opposition, there are better strategic and intelligent ways of fact findings and attention seeking. The poor quality opposition and clownishness being displayed consistently have made the party’s megaphone a laughing stock on the Plateau. Therefore, strive not to be hauling false accusations and baseless gigantic curses in the day time and a lobbying in the night for personal gains.

Above all, rather than dissipating energy in becoming an undertaker and speculator of mundane rumours, he should join the good people of Plateau State who are more interested in supporting and praying for the success of the Lalong Rescue administration as it delivers the dividends of democracy than listening to mischievous and ridiculous claims.

 

Mallam Bashir Musa Sati, LLB (Hons.)

Plateau State APC Secretary

16th September 2020.

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