The race to the Plateau State Government House in Little Rayfield, Jos has begun in earnest. Posters of different colours and shapes are defacing public spaces. And as the date fixed by INEC for the 2023 gubernatorial election in the state moves closer, issues like whether the next governor should emerged through a zoning arrangement said to be in existence before now or not, whether the incumbent administration has lived up to the expectation of the people or not and the internal dynamics of the leading political parties, are on the front burner.
The issue of zoning in the state has always been a problem. The politicians themselves do not respect the unwritten zoning agreement among the three Senatorial districts. But prominent chieftains of the two leading political parties are insisting there is a zoning formula that must be respected ahead of the 2023 governorhip election in the state.
One very popular position is that the rotation of the governorship seat should be considered from 1999 when the country returned to democracy. Thus, permutations appear to favour the Central senatorial district which has five local government areas of Bokkos, Kanam, Kanke, Mangu, and Pankshin, to produce the next governor of the state.
Recall that Senator Joshua Dariye from Bokkos in the Central senatorial district governed the State from 1999 to 2007 and was succeeded by Senator Jonah Jang from Jos South Local Government Area in the Northern senatorial district who governed from 2007 to 2015. The incumbent, Rt. Hon. Simon Lalong, is from Shendam in the Southern senatorial district.
The popular opinion that the central zone should produce the governor in 2023 appears to have led to the emergence of about numerous aspirants from the district in both the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau state.
Some of the names being touted as interested gubernatorial aspirants include Pukat Barde, Manji Gontori, Danyaro Sarpiya, Timothy Nantok, Sunday Biggs, Jonathan Akuns, Dakas Dakas, Hezekiah Dimka, David Dimka, Satu Jatau, John Sura, Sonni Tyoden, Dauda Gotring, Latep Dabang, Garba Pwul, Timothy Golu.
Others are Patrick Dakum, Nentawe Yilwatda, Caleb Mutfwang, Shedrack Best, Alfred Damiyal, Mazadu Bako, David Parradang, Bagudu Hirse, Jonathan Aminu, Sipak Shase’et, James Shwarapshaka, Amos Gizo, Alex Ladan, Kizito Gukas, among others.
But there are still some stakeholders in the state who are against the zoning arrangement and it is possible aspirants from outside the Central senatorial district will contest the tickets of the APC and the PDP when the race kicks off. Such critics of the arrangement are quick to recall that when Dariye contested the governorship from the Plateau Central despite the said unwritten zoning agreement, some candidates from other zones opposed him at the general election.
The same thing, they claim, happened during Jang and Lalong’s quest for governorship in spite of the said zoning arrangement. “Within both the APC and the PDP, as well as in some other parties, there are still clamours for the governorship tickets to be left open for all comers to contest for. Those putting up the argument are those who oppose zoning and want the next governor of the state to emerge on merit. Aside the issue of merit, some are of the opinion that since all the three zones have taken turns, the rotation should be thrown open to start from anywhere,” a source said.
But close aides of Governor Lalong are suggesting that he may be very open to the zoning arrangement. “The governor believes one of the thigns that has kept Plateau together is the zoning arrangement. He is a product of the zoning arrangement himself and we believe he wants to retain the formula in the interest of peace in the state. The APC will defeat any other party in 2023 because the governor has performed well and he has no plan to impose any candidate on the party or the state,” a source added.
In spite of the high number of aspirants jostling for the ticket of the ruling party, it appears majority of the party’s members and stakeholders are still undecided on what to do in 2023. According to very reliable sources within the party, Governor Lalong is yet to give an inkling of who he would be backing for the job. A member of the House of Representatives and a chieftain of the ruling APC, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, specifically said he and his supporters are waiting for the Governor to give them a direction on who to support for the governorship of the state in 2023.
The federal legislator averred that as the leader of the party in the state, Governor Lalong, is in a better position to choose a candidate to succeed him after due consultations other stakeholders within and outside the ruling party. “I say this without any political misrepresentation, Governor Lalong is the leader of APC in Plateau State, and quote me anywhere, he is the leader of APC in Northern Nigeria, for being the chairman of Northern Governors Forum.
“Therefore, as Governor Lalong’s ardent supporter, boy and his product; that I carried his bag when he was Speaker in State House of Assembly, worked with him when I was deputy speaker in the 8th State Assembly; I think the best thing for me is to wait for him to finish his consultation and give us direction. And when he gives us direction, be rest assured that I Gagdi will be at the centre of it, and we will make sure, through the will of God, because we have a Governor who will determine who succeeds him come 2023,” the legislator, who represents Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam constituency in the House of Representatives, said.
PDP: Jang, Oseni factor
The PDP in Plateau state is currently divided and analysts are strongly of the opinion that unless it heals, the party may not be much of a threat to the ruling APC in 2023.The Nation gathered that the current division within the PDP is the result of the rivalry between General Jeremiah Huseini and Air Commodore Jonah David Jang, immediate past governor of the state and a former senator. The feud between the two PDP leaders is responsible for the inability of the party to put up good electoral showings since 2015 when it lost the governorship seat to the APC in the state.
Jang, a two-term governor of the state, has been the leader of the party since his emergence as governor in 2007 on the platform of the PDP. After his stint as governor, he was elected as a senator. Huseini joined the PDP from his erstwhile party, the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) after Jang’s tenure as governor. He also ran for a seat in the senate and won. They duo were in the senate together till 2019, representing their various senatorial districts of Plateau state.
Huseini, in spite of opposition to his aspiration by Jang’s loyalists in 2019, emerged the candidate of the PDP in Plateau State for the governorship election. Observers of the politics of the state claim that was the beginning of the cold war between the duo. Huseini faced the incumbent governor, Lalong, of the APC and was defeated. The crisis within the party worsened in early 2020 when the faction loyal to Gen. Huseini (retd.), set up a parallel caretaker committee less than one week after the PDP national headquarters approved the extension of the state executive led by Yakubu Chocho, an ally of Jang, pending a new election. The party remained troubled by the rivalry between the two top politicians until September 2021 when the party elected a new executive committee.
Chris Hassa a former commissioner who served in the Jang administration, emerged as the state Chairman of the party. His emergence, it appears has rekindled the rivalry between Jang and Huseini, rather than nip it in the bud. Party sources say chieftains of the party remain divided in their loyalty to the two gladiators. “It will be very difficult for Jang and Husseni to reconcile. Because you have tried something once twice and it has failed. Confidence is lost and the battle line has been drawn because both of them are now getting older. Each of them is maintaining his pride.
“Each of them is maintaining his role. There are people Useini helped to climb the ladder and there are people Jang help too. So each one is the Lord to his people and it is very difficult to make their loyalists abandon them, giving the current situation in Plateau State,” said Sati Tanko. But a former federal legislator Hon. Timothy Golu, a loyalist of Senator Jang, said it is easy for the Jang group to carry the day because it is the authentic PDP faction in the state with majority of party members. He told stakeholders at the party Secretariat that the former governor used his time as a governor to lay a solid foundation for a new Plateau.
Analysts say the PDP will have to put its house in order if it is desirous of unseating the ruling APC. But will the two feuding elders put personal grudges apart and work together in the interest of the party? Only time can provide an answer to this question.
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