By Kingsley Chukwuka
The ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), in Plateau State, has described the campaign flag-off of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in the State as laughable pointing out that prominent party members of the party were not in attendance.
The APC also pointed out that choosing the campaign venue flag-off to hold in Shendam, Governor Lalong’s hometown was a calculated attempt to humiliate the Governor, but unfortunately the PDP couldn’t pack the mini stadium.
“The choice of Shendam was ostensibly done with the sole aim of giving the impression to the public that the party is more popular even in the Governor’s home local government”, the APC State Publicity Secretary, Sylvanus Namang said in a statement sent to our correspondent on Wednesday.
Mocking the party for failing to come out of its internal crisis, Namang said the PDP crisis has further diminished the party as big names such as a former governor, a former party Chairman, a former Senator, Ambassador etc, did not attend the zonal campaign flag-off rally.
According to him: “The PDP did not see credible leaders and founding fathers of the party like Sir. Fidelis Tapgun, a former governor of the state, former Ambassador and former Minister and Hon. D. T. Sango, a former Minister of the Federal Republic and immediate past Chairman of the party in the state at the rally. Senator Jeremiah Useni, its 2019 gubernatorial candidate and a well respected leader of the party was conspicuously absent at the event held in his zone.
“The faction and divergent interests in the party have refused to die. So the supporters have every reason to be hapless.
“How many of the aspirants who contested with the State PDP governorship aspirant, Caleb Mutfwang accompanied him to the Zonal rally as a true mark of solidarity and indication that all is well with the party?
“Of the 17000 decampees it claimed it received which 5000 are purportedly from Shendam local government alone, Governor Simon Bako Lalong’s Local Government, out of the six local governments in the zone, this is laughable and can be simply dismissed with a wave of the hand.
“The PDP in the state has a penchant for quoting bogus figures when it comes to painting pictures of decampees. The Shendam mini stadium has a capacity of less than 10000 people. If 17000 were decampees alone, how could a stadium with such capacity accommodate them apart from other party members? Unless the media handlers of the PDP campaign council wants us to believe that everyone who attended the water- testing rally is a decampee who were packed as sardines, this figure is anything but unrealistic.
“Also how could the party receive such a number of decampees without a mention of a single name of its leaders from at least each of the six local governments? This is merely a grand deception.
“The APC is least bothered by this claim by the PDP as no discerning APC member in the state would embark on such political suicide of moving into a sinking political ship”, Namang said.