A group under the aegis of Coalition of Ethnic Youth National of Southern Senatorial Zone, Plateau State has said, Governor Jonah Jang must shirt power to people of Plateau south for equity and fairness .
Addressing a press conference yesterday in Jos, chairman of the coalition, Agwo Martins Dagen said that the southern zone appears united on the fact that it is her turn to produce the next occupant of little Rayfield Government House, how this would be resolved in favour of the zone, seem to be as Herculean as the task of ‘untying the Guardian Knot’.
Dagen said that since 1999, the present Plateau State has seen two elected Governors, Joshua Dariye from May 1999 to 2007 and Jonah David Jang from May 2007 to date, meaning that both of them from Central and Northern zones spent eight years each. The Southern zone has not had the opportunity of occupying the Governorship seat as the tenures of Chief Solomon Lar and Fidelis Tapgun cannot be counted because they were governors of the old Plateau State which included Nasarawa State.
The coalition noted,”The claim of Northern and Central zones to the Governorship of the state come 2015 will not augur well for our politics in the state since Joshua Dariye has enjoyed the seat for eight years and Jonah Jang is about to complete his second term. Picking the Governorship candidate from any other zone other than the Southern would be inimical to the highly-cherished peace, unity and stability of the state”.
The coalition added, “We recognized the right of citizens of the state to express their opinions on matters that have direct bearings on the progress and development of the state, but we take exception to any attempt to pander to sentiment on such sensitive issues”
The coalition caution the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), adding, “Southern zone is a traditional home of the PDP and we have consistently given landslide support to the party since 1999. In 2011, the Southern zone was the only zone in the state to return PDP 100% in the Governorship election when the party convincingly won in all the six LGAs of the zone. Indeed the zone massively voted against its own daughter Pauline Tallen of the Labour Party (LP) in favour of Governor Jonah Jang of the PDP with the belief that based on equity and fairness it was still the turn of the Northern zone to produce the Governor”.
They commended All Progressive Congress (APC) in Plateau State for zoning the governorship seat to the Southern zone and advised other political parties to follow suit
“We are constrained to break our loud silence and lend our voice to the issues surrounding unfolding political development. It is not our intention to overheat the polity on a matter that is already well known to the people of Plateau State. The intense debate over the zoning of governorship in the state like a thunderbolt, has raised much dust in our political firmament and appears to portent a bad omen for the much cherished unity, peace and stability of the state. The main issue on the table for now is the zoning arrangement which, both in principle and practice is well entrenched in the minds of the electorate”.
