I Told Buhari Not To Interfere In Plateau Polls – Senator JT Useni

BY CHAMBERLAINODEY, JOS – The gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in next month’s gubernatorial election in Plateau State, Senator Jeremiah Useni has said that he has personally informed President Muhammadu Buhari of his ambition, and has advised him not to interfere in the 2019 gubernatorial poll in the State.
Useni, who told journalists at a press conference in Jos at the weekend, debunked claims that military esprit de corps is likely to sway his sentiment during the presidential poll as the incumbent has the PDP’s Atiku Abubakar to beat, saying that “friendship and politics are two different things”.
The PDP gubernatorial candidate who insisted that his age is not a barrier and that he is fit to give Plateau state quality leadership, also said that his relationship with President Buhari dates back
to their days in the military service when he was immediate subordinate to Muhammadu Buhari in the department of Supplies and Transport of the Nigeria Army.
Useni also recalled that apart from his cordial relationship with Buhari in the Military, the two of them have been together even in politics, noting that he played a role in getting Buhari to participate in active politics, and eventually enlisting in the erstwhile All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Although the two ex-Generals belong to two different political parties now going into a general election, Useni, who is also the PDP senator for Plateau South senatorial zone, insists that this has not grated on his relationship with the President.

He said that the notion of a possibility that he will vote for Buhari against his PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in next Saturday’s presidential election was one of the lazy arguments canvassed by his opponents to deny him the gubernatorial ticket.
Useni who dedicates his gubernatorial bid to God, said he remains upbeat that he will win, adding that it is sad that Governor Simon Bako Lalong has been telling lies about the peace and security situation in Plateau State to President Buhari.

The PDP governorship candidate noted that on a particular night that Governor Lalong hosted the President Buhari and was feeding him with such fiction gleefully, armed mercenaries murdered 27 persons that night while the President was in Plateau.
Rather than indulging in high profile executive lies and falsehood, Useni pledged that if elected as governor of the state, he will tell the truth to the federal authorities, and solicit assistance to enable him improve the security situation in the state, restore peace, empower women whom he holds in high esteem as spiritual bulwark of the family, and engage the youth population in reproductive and beneficial activities.