There is no doubt that there are strong political undercurrents in Plateau State on the 2019 governorship race. The race has surreptitiously begun in earnest.
Although other interested individuals who may join the governorship race later, the incumbent government who was also the longest serving and dynamic Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong, and the preferred unknown candidate of the immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Jonah David Jang are glaring contestants.
Lalong will definitely throw his hat into the governorship ring again in 2019 to complete his eight-year tenure.
Senator Jang will also sponsor a candidate to slug it out with Lalong. In fact, many believe Jang’s supposedly preferred candidate would have won last year’s governorship election neatly if the mutual but undemocratic rotational arrangement had been religiously followed.
Some political observers in the state are quick to add that Jang and his group must have learnt their lessons from the obvious mistake and are making moves to correct same. They say, “owing to the rotational accord, Senator Jang, having successfully completed his eight years as governor with outstanding records of achievements, should have given the governorship ticket to another senatorial district and not a candidate from the same Plateau North where he belongs. Jang is a big fish of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He is in constant touch with his constituents of Plateau North Senatorial District …”
There is a formidable Third Force in the state whose secret ambitions are not noticed. It’s the current Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Barrister Solomon Dalung. An astute but soft-spoken young man, he had a stint at the University of Jos as a lecturer in the Faculty of Law before he became the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum.
He was outspoken there and was presumably recommended for a ministerial post by the northerners.
One thing is clear. He was not nominated by Governor Lalong. The governor and the stakeholders were apparently shocked when his name was announced as a minister nominee representing Plateau.
This young minister, if he eventually comes out to contest the governorship election, will pose a serious challenge to the Lalong and Jang groups. This is because some sources believe that Dalung has a presidential backing in this respect. But the question other people are asking is whether the people in the Presidency or the North who are not from Plateau will come that day to vote for Dalung.
Some observers, however, maintain that Governor Lalong will use his incumbency power to win the election while others are of the view that that strategy may not work, noting that Jang’s candidate lost the election despite the fact that Jang had the power of incumbency. They are quick to say that landmark achievements did not even work in Jang’s favour at the time.
By their calculation and permutation, with the right candidate from the right senatorial district, whoever Jang supports maybe the candidate to beat because of his yet unmatched achievements as governor of the state.
Plateau State has been a PDP state since 1999 with the incumbent senator representing Plateau Central, Chief Joshua Dariye, ruling the state for eight years. Jang took over from him when the latter was impeached.
It was just last year that the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the leadership of Governor Lalong broke the jinx of the PDP’s dominance. It was the first time an opposition party in the state defeated an incumbent party. Governor Lalong has to prove his worth to be politically relevant in 2019 — he has to prove it by achievements.
Lalong had told the people of the state while inaugurating the six-man judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the administration of Jang that the exercise should not be regarded as a witch-hunt.
But many stakeholders in the state, especially from the opposition party, see the setting up of the commission as such.
However, whatever be the case, though Lalong may have control over the Plateau Radio Television Corporation (PRTV), Jang may find a respite in the newly launched Tin City FM.
HOW THEY RANK BY SENATORIAL ZONES…
Plateau Central(PDP Stronghold)
No of LGAs
1.Bokkos
2.Mangu
3.Pankshin
4.Kanke
5. Kanem.
Plateau North(PDP all the way)
1.Jos North
2.Jos South
3.Jos East
4 Bassa
5. Riyom
6.Barkin Ladi
Plateau South(APC/.PDP zone)
1. Langtang North
2. Langtang South
3.Mikang
4.Quaan Pan
5, Shendam
6.Wase
