Plateau APC Accuses Useni Of Two-term Plot
BY CHAMBERLAIN ODEY, JOS – Former members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), have said that they abandoned the party when they uncovered a plan by the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Senator Jeremiah Useini, to disrupt the zoning arrangement in place in Plateau State.
Although the PDP has responded by describing the claim as baseless, and at best a smear campaign, the spokesman of the defectors, Alhaji Garba Abubakar Dade, said at an APC rally in Mangu local government area of the state, that what endeared them to the PDP was the assertion by the gubernatorial candidate, Senator Jeremiah Useini, that he would serve only one term in office in accordance with the now entrenched zoning principle in the State.
According to him, based on the happenings within the party, there is a plan by the PDP gubernatorial candidate to renege on the zoning principle, hence the determination and collective decision of some members to dump the PDP for APC whose candidate is going for a second and final term.
According to Dade; “Senator J.T.Useni, who had invited us to work with him in his governorship campaign had declined to restrict himself to the one term in office if he eventually wins in the forth coming elections. This did not go down well with some of the supporters and party members from Mangu LGA.
“The Central zone is next in line to benefit from the zoning agreement in the State and Mangu LGA being an interested party will not concede her chance by supporting Useni as he would further delay their chance of contesting the governorship by another four years. We would rather pitch camp with the incumbent governor, Simon Lalong of the APC, who is seeking a second term and who is by the constitution restricted to just two terms of which he has already served one”.
Other supporters who also decamped to the APC during the mega rally include Salisu Babuje, Abdullahi Rabo, and Ibrahim A. Kyespo who also contested in the 2018 local councils’ elections as deputy chairman to the then PDP candidate, Barrister Ayuba Burki, who had since decamped to the APC.
Reacting to the allegation, Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee of the PDP campaign organization, Abraham Yiljap, said APC is rattled by the success of the PDP, especially its recent campaign outing, adding that the PDP in recent times has witnessed defections of the APC members into its fold.
“It is mischief to say Senator Useni is scheming for eight years. The gubernatorial candidate has repeatedly stated that he is going in for just four years after which he will hand over to younger ones. The APC just wants to deceive the people of Mangu. I want to say that he is going in for just four years,” Yiljap emphasized.
It will be recalled that during the 2015 governorship elections in Plateau State, zoning was a serious issue that subsequently led to the defeat of the then incumbent PDP, as the then governor had refused to concede the governorship to the Southern zone thereby giving the APC an easy ride to victory.