Democracy Day: The ‘Plateau Spirit’ Against Party Spirit.

Plateau State is currently being governed by the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), under the leadership of His Excellency, Barrister Caleb Mutfwang. The governor is being supported by his lieutenants, who are his members of the State Executive Council as appointed by him as well as Council Chairmen of the Seventeen Local Government Areas of the state, who are all members of the PDP.

Meanwhile, the Legislative arm of the State is under the control of the opposition parties, as the PDP has no single member to represent and protect the interest of the party in the State Assembly.

The State House of Assembly is currently under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Gabriel Dewan, representing Pankshin North State Constituency and an only elected member from the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in the State.

The major opposition party in the State, the All Progressives Congress (APC), currently has 22 members out of the 24 lawmakers representing the 24 State Constituencies as the Labour Party (LP), also has one slot, in person of Hon. Nanbol Listick of Langtang North-Central Constituency.

Also at the National Assembly, the PDP has no single member at both Chambers of the National Assembly after loosing all its seats at the Appeal Court ruling that sacked all the PDP elected State and National Assembly lawmakers. The court ruled that the State PDP lacked “Structure” to sponsor candidates for election as at that time in the State.

Currently, the All Progressives Congress, (APC), has 2 Senators out of the 3 Senators from the State at the Red Chamber with the Action Democratic Party, (ADP) having 1. Meanwhile, at the Green Chamber, the All Progressives Congress, APC is currently enjoying 7 seats out of the 8 members representing the 8 Federal Constituencies in the State, with the Labour Party, LP holding only 1 seat.

With these mix of elected officials from different political parties in the State, if personal and party interest are not buried to allow for collective interest, the electorates will not enjoy the dividend of democracy as expected within the period of their tenures.

Fortunately, what has kept Plateau State moving under the current leaders is the “Plateau Spirit” in the elected officials, though they have different parties. They choose to stand on one party, the “Plateau People’s Party, (PPP), for the collective interest of the Plateau State citizens.

The “Plateau Spirit” has helped the State to address many challenges including security and economic challenges, despite the activities of some bad elements among the politicians.

The 10th House of Assembly has passed bills and moved motions that aimed at safeguarding the state and to better the lives of the citizens.

Also, the 10th Assembly had earlier declared a recess to enable the lawmakers go back and hold Town-hall meetings across their respective constituencies for direct interaction with citizens for an informed policy directions, shaped security strategies, and provide real-time feedback to government.

Again, despite the political parties differences, the Lawmakers have never frustrated or undermined the Executive Governor’s efforts. Most Governor’s requests are expressly attended to by the legislative arm.

For example, the state budgets and all nominees of the Governor for key state offices underwent rigorous scrutiny that resulted in balanced confirmations which reflected merit-based selection and political stability in the 2 years of the “Time is Now” administration in the state.

On his part, the Executive Governor, Caleb Mutfwang has also demonstrated the ‘Plateau Spirit’, when he opened the door of the Government House to welcome all the National Assemblies lawmakers who are of the opposition parties to brainstorm and proffer solutions to Plateau problems.

The invitation clearly shows the Mutfwang administration’s commitment to fostering peace, unity, and inclusive governance by aligning efforts to rebuild the state for the collective good of it’s citizens.

Governor Mutfwang remarks at the meeting was that, “We have come to the realization that without unity and collaboration, we cannot move Plateau forward. Today marks a new beginning as elected representatives of the people from different political parties including the PDP, APC, and Labour Party, have resolved to work together for the Plateau project.

The Plateau project is about developing and moving our state forward. This meeting symbolizes our collective resolve to bury political differences in the interest of our people. I am glad that we held this discussion in a harmonious atmosphere, and I am confident it signals a brighter future for Plateau State.”

The Senator representing Plateau South at the National Assembly, and the immediate past Governor of the State, Sen. Simon Lalong who responded on behalf of the lawmakers after the meeting, commended Governor Mutfwang for initiating the dialogue and noted that the meeting has fostered mutual understanding and commitment to Plateau’s progress.

“I want to thank His Excellency for this initiative. We have had a fruitful interaction, shared our views, and agreed to work together to address the challenges facing our state. The Governor assured us of his support, and we also pledged to support him in moving Plateau forward. Next year, the people of Plateau will witness a transformed state under Governor Mutfwang’s leadership.” Lalong remark.

Like the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda said in one of his Radio appearances in Jos, that he has the capacity to mount pressure on the current administration in the state politically because of political parties differences, but he choose to allow the Governor to remain focus in delivering governance to the State.

This demonstrates the ‘Plateau Spirit’ that is stabilizing Governance and fostering unity in the state, through the collective interests and support of leaders both at the Federal and State levels.

This calls for reflection among the supporters of both the ruling and opposition parties in the state to shun stomach politics, blind opposition, thuggery and unite to build the state.

The leaders also need to caution some of their supporters who are fun of using inflammatory statements against each others, praying for the downfall of another leader or busy waiting for an opportunity to fault policies or statements of opposition leaders. They must also scrutinize the activities of their data boys on the social media for the interest of the ‘Plateau Spirit’.

What is of utmost importance now is for every Plateau citizen to imbibe the ‘Plateau Spirit’ and unite against the terrorists that have sworn to destabilize the state for the purpose of grabbing the ancestral land of the natives. Collectively, the battle will be won with God.