‘I have nothing to hide. Stop harassing civil servants’, Governor Lalong tells the PDP

Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State has warned the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to stop harassing civil servants, saying his administration has nothing to hide concerning his stewardship.

Recall that the State chapter of PDP in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mr John Akans raised an alarm of purported looting and conversion of public assets under the governor’s directives.

 In a statement signed by the State Commissioner of Information, Dan Majang, the governor expressed surprise that

the party that has not yet taken over power is already issuing threats and singling out specific government officials for intimidation, harassment, and persecution.

His words: “What will they do if they eventually scale the difficult mountain before them at the Tribunal and the Supreme Court and take over?”

“Let it be on record that the Rescue Administration of Governor Simon Bako Lalong has nothing to hide or fear and can never be involved in any looting, conversion of public assets, or criminal conduct in contract awards as alleged.”

 “If anything, the APC Rescue Administration has, in the last eight years, conducted the business of governance with the utmost prudence, accountability, transparency, and diligence. During his tenure, Governor Lalong set up the Efficiency Unit (EU), implemented the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Liquidity Management Committee (LMC), and the Project Monitoring and Result Delivery Office (PMRDO), among others, to ensure that the business of governance is done according to established rules” he said.

 According to him, as a result of the administration’s prudence, the Lalong Rescue Administration applied and was admitted into the Open Government Partnership (OGP), where it got the global award for transparency and accountability in 2021 in Seoul, South Korea.

Under the same administration, Plateau State has adjudged the second-least corrupt state in Nigeria in the 2nd Corruption Survey Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

He pointed out that it is preposterous for the PDP to make wild and unsubstantiated claims of corruption against the government and specific officers without any evidence.