PVPC , rally supports for Lalong caution against sabotage

The Plateau Vanguard for Progressive Change,(PVPC) has said, they were rallying support for Governor Simon Lalong because he has represented the people of Shendam constituency in the last eight years and therefore as a governor deserved commendation and sincere support of all sundry .

Spokesman of the group, Philip Eplong said, the governor has exhibited good leadership, stewardship and accountability and therefore deserved another chance come 2019.

Lalong's has brought smiles to the faces of many, he performed credibly so much so and become a household name and a symbol of hope irrespective of tribe, race, creed or religion, the people of Plateau state especially the youth are with him .

"we see Governor lalong's as a detribalized personality that believes in a united Plateau state of our dream by championed very important issue of promoting peaceful coexistence amongst the people of the state .

The Plateau Vanguard for progressive Change, secretary  Mr. Philip Eplong has promised to partner with the state government in the area of dissemination of information.

However, he said, the governor also organized Jos 2016 trade fair, host Nigerian Union of Journalists, (NUJ) NEC meeting and pharmaceutical international conference to boost the local and international acceptance of the state to eliminating of all forms of discrimination against the people of Plateau.

The PVPC maintained that Lalong's served humanity and contribute to the return of peace, qualitative development of the state, he added.

According to the statement, this explained the rational behind his efforts to use every opportunity and means at his disposal to make a difference within his one year.
He has carried out several developmental projects in Plateau state especially in the of education, infrastructural and poverty reducing.

In his response, Special Adviser, Mr Dan Manjang applauded the initiative and promise to partner with the group in the area of dissemination of information.

He stressed that youth should be given opportunity to develop themselves so that they can contribute positively to the development of their communities.

Manjang expressed government readiness to give all the necessary support to the PVPC so that the association will be accommodated because they're on the course leadership management.

He also added that mass exodus of politicians leaving the PDP was due the quality opposition the APC provide when its come to politics.

The Special Adviser took the opportunity to welcome Sen Joshua Dariye, Deputy Speaker, Hon Yusuf Babayo Gagdi and other prominent citizens who in no distance time would defect to APC family.

He warned to be careful how to manage overwhelming victory of the party before the exercise will turn soar due to high number expectant who indicated interest to abandon PDP to APC .

Manjang pointed out the caliber of personality like the former deputy governor, Ignatius Longjang, Arc,Pam Dung Gyang, Dame Pauline Tallen and Edward Pwajok are people with integrity.

He lamented that the former governor, Sen Jonah Jang his eight years in office over 10,000 people were said to be killed according to GNS Pwajok statistics reported, were people are murder daily.

Special Adviser to Governor Simon Lalong has assured of governor Lalong readiness to partner non governmental association on the Plateau to promote government activities.

He disclosed that over 10,000 people have been killed in the regime of the former governor Jonah David Jang reign in office.

                                                                                                                                 

The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), in Benue State, Sir John Ngbede, in this interview expresses opinion that the crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC), may eventually lead to its extinction in 2019.

Do you see the PDP wresting power from the ruling APC in 2019 with the barrage of crises rocking it even at the national level?

When we get to that bridge we will cross it. When we get to 2019, you will know. The PDP has mechanism of resolving its own crisis. And the crisis you are hearing about is resolvable. Don’t forget that there are moves to reconcile Ali Modu Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi. And I think that move is still in place. That is why I am telling you that PDP has its own way of reconciling its members. So, I don’t think there’s anything wrong yet and by God’s grace, we will overcome.

There are also crises in other political parties. You should be hearing that the APC is also having its own crisis. The Tinubu group is not happy with what is going on. By the time we get to 2019, there will be so many calculations, so many formulas to be adopted, and so many alignments and realignments and at the end of the day, the face of what you are seeing today may even change tomorrow. And may be the APC may not even be in existence again. Another political party may just take over.

Does that also imply that the PDP may not be in existence?

PDP will be in existence. The APC may also be in existence. But then, the face of things will change. You know things can change. Nobody believed that APC would win the 2015 election in Benue State. At a point, almost everybody decamped from the APC to the PDP. But as you are deciding your own, God’s decision is final. That is why whatever the APC is doing today to suppress our members, let the APC not forget that it is not only the PDP members that cast votes in elections, the voters are there.

Even though our members also cast votes, they should know that it is not all the voters that are members of political parties and these voters are still there. So, whatever the APC is doing today, thinking that they want to extinguish the PDP, they should not forget that the voters are watching.

Are you insinuating that some bigwigs in the APC might return to the PDP?

Are you not aware that some bigwigs in the PDP also left for the APC during the senatorial repeated election of Benue South because they learnt that the APC is in power? But, go and ask them how they are faring in that party now.

At the moment, it appears that there are two factions of the PDP in the state. What are you doing to reconcile these factions?

I don’t believe that there are two factions of the PDP in Benue State. You may hear people say there are two factions but to us in this office, we don’t have two factions. Somebody cannot just wake up and come from another party to claim leadership of the party in the state. We are all aware that the man who claims that he is the chairman of the Sheriff faction is in the APC. So, how can he jump from the APC to become a factional chairman in the PDP? Then, don’t forget that the leadership of the PDP in the state today was inaugurated by Sheriff. At the time we were inaugurated, there was nothing like any faction in this state. There was not even a protest of any sort or a petition written against the leadership of this party at the time we conducted the state congress.

How would you describe your experience and challenges after assuming office as Benue State PDP Chairman in the past few months?

The experience has been great. I’ve been into politics for a long time now. So, when I assumed office, I know there were going to be many challenges because I had never been in the position of the executive of the party before. But I have been an active participant in the area of politics in Benue State. I have been in different political parties right from the Nigeria Peoples Party days when I was in the youth wing, down to Social Democratic Party and so many other political parties before now. Since coming into office, I’ve been trying to look at many things that had gone wrong which made people to leave the party.

So, all we are trying to do is to make sure that we do everything humanly possible to make sure that those who left are able to come back and ensure party discipline. There is need for every member to subject himself to the leadership of the party both at the local government, state and even at the national level. We should be able to know that the party hierarchy is there.

What is your assessment of the ruling APC?

I leave that to you people to judge whether they are doing well or not. Ask the ordinary man on the street and he would give you a honest assessment, whether he is happy or not. Whatever the opinion of the ordinary man on the street is, is also the decision of our own party.

What is the view of your party on the suspended local government elections in the state as well as the appointment of 23 sole administrators to man the council’s affairs?

We were not happy that the local government election which we were preparing for was suspended. We kicked against it but as government in power, they had their way. They had asked the directors of local government areas to act for a certain number of months because they exhausted the limits to which the caretaker chairmen could remain in the council areas. However, the tenure of the directors could not go beyond a certain number of months, so they came up with the idea of sole administrators which is against the constitution, even though the amendment of the local government law was passed by the House of Assembly. As a party, we are also against the appointment of the sole administrators and we are going to challenge that action in court.

How do you perceive the fight against corruption at the federal level and in Benue State?

Nobody would ever support corruption and no member of PDP should support corruption as far as I’m concerned. What President Muhammadu Buhari is doing is also receiving the blessing of the PDP but what the party is against is when the fight is only targeted at its members. Some members of the APC are also accused of corruption and that’s where the problem is, otherwise as a party we cannot fault what the president is doing. However, it should not be one-sided because there is every need to eradicate corruption in this country so we must give the president all the necessary support. Don’t forget that our members are also giving him necessary support, especially members of the National Assembly to make sure he succeeds.

Apart from the fight against corruption, the Buhari administration seems to be clamping down on Boko Haram. How would you rate his performance in this area?

Buhari has tried in this area but the former President Goodluck Jonathan too tried his best to a certain level. During the campaigns, the APC said when they come, they would immediately eradicate terrorism in Nigeria, but then the fight has taken up to a year plus now, so that shows the level which Boko Haram was rooted in the country.

Would you say the APC has lived up to their electoral promises?

I don’t think the APC has been able to live up to the change they promised Nigerians. People will tell you these days that the change has turned to chain, so when you hear the ordinary man crying, it means that the party has not lived up to its promises. We also hope for when the APC-led government will live up to its electoral promises to the people of the state. But, one aspect that I must commend the government is in the area that it has not abandoned most of the projects started by the past administration. You don’t just come and abandon what your predecessor had started but you come and continue. When Akume left, Suswam continued with his project and now, Governor Ortom is continuing with some projects of his predecessor. I’m happy about that

Mr. Ezekiel Daju, commended NEPC for boosting the efforts of the state government in empowering small scale farmers

The Nigerian export promotion council (NEPC), a federal government agency for the promotion of non-oil export has concluded arrangements to help tomato farmers in Plateau state to boost production and export of the product.

Tomato is one of the commodities targeted by NEPC’s zero oil plan Zonal coordinator of NEPC, North Central, Mr. Nanakaan Saave disclosed this during a one day workshop organized by the zonal office of NEPC for tomato farmers and other stakeholders in the state.

Mr. Saave in his welcome address to participants in the workshop said, “The export of agricultural products like tomatoes is one of the items that can be used to diversify the economy of the country from its over dependence on oil export.

He said, “We have discovered in the zonal office that there is high concentration of small scale farmers in Plateau state that produces between 25,000 to 30,000 metric tones of tomatoes annually.

“The study also revealed that tomato farmers on the Plateau suffers a lot of deficiencies in the areas of production, storage, handling and packaging, which makes the output unfit for the export market. Further more, the varieties cultivated are not the high yielding and disease resistant ones.

“For the commodity to make a contribution to national foreign exchange earnings, there is therefore need to further enhance the capacity of farmer to produce high quality tomatoes that will attract premium price in the international market with a view to boosting its export in line with the focus of zero-oil plan”

According to Mr. Saave, “It is in this wise that the zonal office sought and got the intervention of the headquarters to organise this capacity building workshop for both farmers and other stakeholders with a view to assisting to boost the production and export of the commodity from the state”

Plateau state commissioner for Commerce, Mr. Ezekiel Daju, while declaring the workshop open said, “The capacity building will go along way in boosting the efforts of the state government in empowering small scale farmers in the state.

In her goodwill message, Plateau State commissioner for agriculture, Mrs. Lynda Barawu, who was represented by Mrs. Halima Pamwa, called on participants to learn, absolve, then go home and practice what they would have learnt from the workshop.

Chairman of the ADP, lambasted the APC, and PDP

The Plateau State Chairman of the Action Democratic Party, Mr Nanyah Andrew Daman, has lambasted the All Progressive Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party and other political parties in country of lacking in ideology.

Daman said: “the two major Nigerian political parties, have not been able to prioritise the needs of the citizens.”
Daman made this submission while inaugurating four committees that would work towards laying the basis for a solid structure for the ADP in Plateau State at the party’s secretariat in Jos.

The committees inaugurated were Finance, Contact and Mobilization, Media and Publicity, as well as Strategic Planning and Research.
They are to be chaired by Pam Dachuwang, Comrade Yusuph Dilas, Auta Danjuma and Tabitha Goselle respectively.
The chairman said that he was highly surprised at the turn out of people in the state for registration as ADP members.
He charged the committee members to see their assignment as an opportunity to also contribute their quota towards liberating the masses and deepening of democracy.

⁠⁠Daman said that it is for the above reasons that the ADP was formed to entrench true democracy beginning from the party by way of entrenching internal democracy where the wish of the people would prevail.
According to him: “True democracy must revolve around the people.”

BREAKING: POLITICAL JITTERY, AS CHIEF NANYAH DAMAN, CHAIRS NEW MEGA PARTY IN PLATEAU STATE

Chief Andrew Nanyah Daman has emerged as the Interim Chairman of the new Action Democratic Party (ADP) an off shoot of the long anticipated Mega Party in Plateau State.

Chief Nanyah, who confirmed this development to REALTY in a telephone conversation today, said the decision to make him Interim Chairman, was taken in a meeting held by the party’s stakeholders on December 26^th 2016. 

REALITY also just gathered that most political parties and politicians in the state are already jittery, knowing the political clout of the Chief.

You would recall that, Chief Nanyah Daman, as a journalist and Newspaper Publisher in the state, has been a strong voice of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) immediately after the party lost the governorship seat to the ruling All Progressive Congress APC In the state. 

It is of note that the ADP has as its ideology, to bring power back to the youths and the masses in the country. 

More on the names of those that made the EXCO of the party in the state and why Chief Nanyah was selected to head the party in an interim capacity, coming soon!

Vigilante Group of Nigeria solicits the partnership of security agencies to fight crime

The Deputy Zonal Commander North -Central Nigeria, Alh Garba Juji has expressed his readiness in north-central and  Plateau state to partner with other security apparatus to ensure they safety of lives and property of citizens .

He solicited the cooperation of Nigerian security agencies in combating crime free society in the country.

In an interview with our correspondent at the zonal office Shehu Street behind Fire Service, Jos North Local Government Area, he said the Vigilante Group of Nigeria is partnering with Royal fathers, district heads, village heads to reduce activities of the men of the underworld.

Alh Juji said, our traditional council in Plateau state has thrown their weight behind the current fight against these social menaces by joining hands with vigilante group of Nigeria in the struggle.

He maintained that the young men and women of the organization have drastically improved themselves of the task of monitoring the wellbeing of our communities in restoring peace and security.

Alh. Juji disclosed that the vigilante Group of Nigeria is saddle with challenges of lack of support from 36 States Governors and Spirited individuals who he solicited their cooperation to equips the offices across the country.

He expressed worried that some states branches are lacking patrol vehicles, office accommodation especially in Plateau state where the organization paid N700,000 annually at Kalwa House with no income generation.

Alh Garba lamented that, "there are many people who are yet to understand the duty of the vigilante group "we have nothing to do with politics our main function is to safeguard lives and property of our citizens, we ensure that we partner with security to  arrest criminal and hand over them to the police ",
The vigilante Group of Nigeria also work with Immigration, Police, STF, Traditional rulers and Nigerian Civil Defense Corp, district heads and village head who most endorsed any person before his or her proper registration to joint the organization, he added.

He said, "We train our members not to harassed, intimidate or use force.

He commended the Commandant General Dr. Alh Ali Sokoto, President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Simon Lalong for the support given to its members to discharge its duty effectively without fair or favour.
  
The head of intelligence, Mr.   Itumu Timzing Yakubu, expressed fear that there are some miscreants who are terrorizing communities along Jingir in Bassa Local Government Area.

Yakubu stressed the need for Plateau and Federal government intervention to rescue the state from criminals who terrorist residents of Jenta Mangoro community in Jos North LGA.

He requested the cooperation of police personnel to ensure that those arrested by the vigilante members are punish according to the law of the land because some them that were arrested and released are responsible for upheaval in town now.

We are ready to work toward managing the existing peaceful coexistence in Plateau state and its environs to punish any defaulters.

Why the far North's rejects appointment of Plateau indigent---Amb Kwande

Plateau state was the first proposed Federal capital of Nigeria when European came to colonist us  before  one of our own general turn down plan .

After the first republic  General Murtala Ramat Mohammed  idea of moving the headquarters of most black nation from  Lagos  to Plateau state was rejected.

Ambassador Yahaya Kwande  narrated his ordeal how Muslim in plateau state were treated as second class citizens  with a lot  of hatred by protesting that Plateau shouldn't  be appointed as ministers and ambassadors  in strategies ministries or countries .

He accused the northern political forum for conspiracy against the people of Plateau state when appointment are made on merit they refused to allow either Muslims or Christians from the state.
 
Speaking to the Plateau Vanguard for Progressive Change (PVPC) at his resident, Ibrahim Taiwo street in Jos North local government Area.

Ambassador Kwande lamented the role played by the Bauchi state in 1979 -1983 ambassadorial nominees list, when list of Ambassadors were given portfolio, I was given certificate of credence to UK   as ambassador representing Nigeria but the people of Bauchi protested.

However, the  former President Shehu Shagari then insisted that there is nothing wrong with, Ambassador Kwande going to Britain, but  the people Bauchi remain adamant.
"I have two certificates of credence one to Britain and the second to Switzerland that  confirm the level of hatred the  Bauchi indigent had against the people of plateau which was there before independent of Nigeria", he added.

"I was more qualified with the recommendations on my performance after the training they shortlisted my name to Britain but the northern oligarchy refused that I was a  minority from Plateau state ", he stressed.

He commended the Plateau Vanguard for Progressive Change (PVPC) for initiating ideas that can project government and Plateau state outside positively because Plateau people are not recognized in National politics.

Kwande condemned the way and manner people speak negative thing about government officials in the state, adding that we should sustenance this group to enhance the progress of governance.

He explained that the issue of non payment of workers salary wasn't peculiar to the former governor Jonah David Jang along but was a National problem, however Lalong is  very lucky that funds was released to him to upset 8 months salaries.

Kwande lauded governor Lalong for setting machinery on ground to pay outstanding salary arrears and pension of retirees and gratuity.

He appealed to the people of Plateau state to support the Lalong led government and APC ideology to move the country forward so we should try to identify within and outside the country .

Hon Kwande called on the citizens of the state to shun tribal, religious and anything that can promote sentiment by speaking with one voice when we meet each other.

In Plateau state we are not selfish, I have been victimized many times because of Plateau people so I urge this assembly of young people to pursue team work to defend the citizens of the state, he noted.

He tasked the group to ensure that those who are qualify are not deny appointment in federal government because the state has been neglected for years without any one supporting them that love is a wonderful ideas that can move us forward.