Soon after the Gubernatorial primaries, the candidate of the PDP, Sen. JT Useni met with the other aspirants where he assured them of his desire to work with them to secure victory for the party and also provide good governance to the people. In Sen Useni’s words,

“The fact that I scored over a thousand votes out of about two-thousand does not make me a winner and the remaining 12 aspirants losers. I was only asked to lead all the aspirants as a family to the battle field. For us in the PDP there was no winner and no loser. We all won. It was a collective victory to face a common opponent.”

The aspirants, on their own part, pledged to work with the candidate to ensure the victory of PDP in the 2019 elections.

This meeting birthed the meeting of the Directors General of all the PDP aspirants who contested for the top job.

All the 13 Directors General (DGs) of the PDP Gubernatorial aspirants met on Tuesday 30th Oct, 2018 at the Jerry Useni Campaign Organisation (JUCO). The meeting deliberated mainly on the strategy to supporting the State Campaign Council to ensure the party’s victory at the polls in 2019.

In a heartwarming gesture, all the other 12 DGs gave assurance of their support to the party’s candidate and his running mate, Dr. James Dalok.

The DGs noted that the arguments on the choice of the running mate was a needless distraction to the primary focus of the party. The DGs were in agreement that the selection of a running mate largely depends on the candidate, even though the candidate has to consult widely too.

The DGs made valuable suggestions on how to proceed, going forward:

i. Continuous dialogue with all those that aspired for the position of the running mate, and other stakeholders in Mangu LGA.

ii. Continuous engagement with all other stakeholders, including appeal for understanding and temperance to wholly accept and respect the candidate’s choice. These measures are necessary as substitution of Dr. Dalok at the present circumstance will generate even more crises than the one that is subsisting at the moment.

Dr. Dalok, by providence, bumped into the meeting whilst it was underway. He was introduced to the DGs after which he addressed them. In his remarks, he thanked all the DGs for their hard work in promoting the PDP by leading campaigns for their respective principals. He appreciated the hard work that the DGs had put in the months leading to the elections. Second, expressed his appreciation to the DGs for coming together to support the candidate who emerged after the primaries. Third, he appreciated the DGs and their principals for keeping faith with the PDP by refusing to succumb to the temptation to defect to other parties. Fourth, he assured them of the plan to build an all inclusive government that will accommodate the interest of every stakeholder, including the former aspirants and their DGs.

The DGs congratulated Dr. Dalok for his emergence as the running mate, promising to work with him. Some of the DGs remembered him as a loyal political protege to Sen. JT Useni, dating back to about 20 years ago.

The DG of JUCO and convener of the DGs meeting expressed his appreciation to his colleagues for honouring his invitation to the meeting. He expressed his profound appreciation to the DGs principals for sending them to this meeting. He added that many of the aspirants have been a source of encouragement to him and that they played a significant role in moving him to convene the DGs meeting.

On the whole, the meeting with the DGs was a team building and team bonding effort with the purpose of fostering unity amongst former contestants to the seat of the governor.

Surely, the teams are closing ranks, they are coalescing into a big political movement that intends to speak with one voice, and act with one purpose.

Surely, our unity cannot be compromised and will soon be a done deal. And we are only too happy that this piece of good news is a mortal blow to our opponents and their friends.

Congratulations, PDP.

Prof. Dimis Mai-lafia
DG, JUCO,
Plateau State.

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UNITY STEPS TOWARDS 2019 GUBERNATORIAL RACE IN PLATEAU