A former member of the House of Representatives, who was a Special Adviser to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Hon. Lumumba Dah Adeh, has suggested that the ministerial slot for Plateau State should be reserved for the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Yilwada Goshwe Nentawe, until he declares otherwise.
Recall that the Minister of Labour and Employment, former Governor Simon Lalong, recently collected his certificate of return from INEC after being declared the winner of the Plateau South Senatorial election by the Court of Appeal. As a result of this, some stalwarts of the party have been jostling to replace him as a minister, thus causing tension within the APC family in the state.
The former federal lawmaker said in a statement that this becomes imperative to avoid unnecessary rancor and to earn the respect of Abuja, adding that in the debate over who will take the ministerial position, the interests of the APC and its growth should be the watchword rather than selfish interests.
“By saying this, I am not unaware that he is currently the governor-elect, having won at the Appeal Court, and that Nentawe is only a step away from occupying the exalted position.
“While we are hopeful that the Supreme Court will dispense with the governorship case in our favor, we would be showing the candidate the immense respect and honor he deserves if we defer to him in terms of making a nomination for that exalted office.
“Despite our high hopes that the case will go in our favour, we will be setting the pace in selflessness and promotion of party unity if we accord the candidate his due respect and call on the President not to make an appointment to that office but to wait for the outcome of the Supreme Court verdict in the governorship case.
“So that in the unlikely event that the case does not favor us (God forbid), the party would be able to compensate Nentawe with the ministerial position for his tenacity and doggedness, which have positively impacted the party, leading to its good performance at the 2023 governorship election.”
He mentioned that this is more so as the Central Zone, where he hails from, has been the most marginalized in terms of ministerial positions since 1999, adding that by doing so, the party shall be able to prepare and fortify him for the next election in 2027 since he has shown capacity.
“If, however, the expected happens and Nentawe is declared governor, we will be showing both him and the office of the governor respect by allowing him to nominate who should be the Minister.
“This is the convention in the party where sitting governors are allowed to make nominations into the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and there is no need to jettison that principle now.
“But when it gets to that point where Nentawe is sworn in, the governor and the party should bear in mind the risk of having both the governor and the minister from the same zone, which usually heats up the polity, to avoid creating a scenario where the minister would begin to regard himself as empowered to flex muscles with the sitting governor; hence, the minister should be nominated from other zones,” he said.
The former federal lawmaker further pointed out that both the governor and the party should bear in mind that the southern zone has held the position since 2015 and for almost nine years without a break, adding that it would be most appropriate to zone it to the northern zone in the most likely event that Nentawe is returned as the duly elected winner of the governorship election.
Hon. Dah Adeh appealed to party leaders and members to calm down and concentrate on winning the court case and to accord full support to the government candidate to win his case at the Supreme Court first.
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