NCDC: Ignore ‘sponsored protest’, Plateau APC tells Senate over Tsenyil’s screening

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau State has urged Senate President Senator Godswill Akpabio and members of the Senate to disregard the recent protest against Dr. Cyril Tsenyil, the Managing Director of the newly established North Central Development Commission (NCDC).

They are encouraged to give him a clean bill of health during the screening process.

Recently, a group called “Plateau Residents in Abuja” held a protest opposing Dr. Tsenyil’s nomination as managing director of the new commission.

In a press conference on Friday in Jos, Plateau State, the State Secretary of the APC, Mr. Fidelis Longban, condemned the premeditated protest, describing the group as enemies of Plateau State and the North Central geopolitical zone as a whole.

Mr. Longban pointed out that the party’s investigations reveal that the protest is being orchestrated by the same individuals who attempted to undermine the president during the 2023 election by employing religious sentiments.

“What is even more curious about the stage-managed protest is the fact that, from first-hand information, it is being sponsored by the same set of people who, in the 2023 general elections, were in the forefront of playing the religious card by over-hyping the Muslim-Muslim ticket against our presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, despite the propaganda, scored 30% of votes in Plateau State.”

According to him, it has become a regular pastime of some mischief-makers to stage unnecessary protests against well-intentioned appointments of illustrious citizens of Plateau State.

“A case in point was the nomination and appointment of Sen. Simon Bako Lalong as minister in 2023, apart from petitioning the president against considering him for the exalted office of SGF. The same applied to Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda when he was nominated for a ministerial appointment in 2024.

“By and large, this tendency is often simply to cause pain not only to the persons so appointed and their supporters, but also to truncate the chances of the teeming citizens of the state to have a feel of the dividends of democracy.”

He narrated that there is no sane Plateau citizen, resident in Abuja or anywhere else, that would contemplate any ill will, let alone embark on any protest against such a juicy appointment, adding that the recent outpourings of congratulatory messages and well-wishes over such an appointment lend credence to the fact that President Tinubu’s decision in this regard is quite unprecedented and well received across the board.

Mr. Longban said the nominee, Dr. Tsenyil, as a former director in the State Ministry of Finance and later accountant-general of Plateau State for eight years, a PhD holder in accounting and public finance, is fully equipped with the requisite credentials, cognate experience, and impeccable track record in public service, as well as the full capacity and core competence to deliver on the mandate of the organization.

He, therefore, commended and thanked President Bola Tinubu for nominating such a seasoned technocrat and committed member of the APC for the position.

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