Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State yesterday advised his predecessor, Senator Jonah David Jang, to brace himself for more probes as more committees will be set up, saying “Jang will be invited to give stewardship of his eight years in office”.

Lalong, in an apparent reply to Jang’s statement on Monday where he (Jang) said Lalong’s efforts at probing him was a ploy to distract people’s attention from the burning issue of grazing reserves/ranches, said he was only following Jang’s footstep, given he set up a committee to probe the Joshua Dariye administration on assumption of office.

It would be recalled that ViewPointNigeria had last week reported that Senator Jang reacted to PLSG’s inauguration of a committee to investigate the purchase and distribution of vehicles on loan to members of the public when he was governor under the Tackling Poverty Together programme.

A statement signed by Lalong’s Director of Press and Public Affair, Samuel Emmanuel Nanle, yesterday said government wonders how a simple task of reviewing a revolving loan empowerment programme guided by terms of reference could elicit the kind of reaction it did from Jang.

“As the days roll by and the EFCC settle to address the issues of the State SURE-P funds, the state primary education funds, the CBN N2bn SME funds meant for youth empowerment, the deductions for five km road projects in 17 local governments areas, the ASTC Project, the several bank charges and payment of commissions beyond regulatory limits, amongst the many politically motivated contract beneficiaries with the loop financial benefits to government officials; we shall see how he (Jang) retreats shamelessly into his cocoon. Let Senator Jang not lose sleep yet, for the days ahead will give him enough reasons to,” the statement said.

Full text of the rejoinder to Senator Jang by the Director of Press and Public Affairs to Governor Lalong is below: 

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On Tuesday the 14^th of June, 2016, the Secretary to the Government of Plateau State, Hon. Rufus Bature inaugurated on behalf of Government a Committee to investigate the purchase and distribution of vehicles and tricycles on Loan to members of the Public by the immediate past Administration of Ex- Governor Jonah David Jang. The 9-Point Terms of Reference of the Eight (8) Man Committee includes amongst others the following;

1. To investigate the number of vehicles purchased under the tackling poverty together scheme.
2. To establish the total amount and source of funding of the purchase vehicles.
3. To establish the mode of distribution of the vehicles names and addresses of beneficiaries.
4. To identify the bank and ascertain the total amount deposited by each beneficiary as loans repayment.
5. To recover the vehicles of balance payments from defaulting beneficiaries.
6. To advice Government on how to sanitize the programme for sustainability.

No sooner had Government inaugurated the committee than Senator Jonah Jang deemed it appropriate to issue a Press Statement castigating the entire purpose of setting up the committee and the publicly acclaimed successes made by the Lalong Administration in tidying up the mess he has left in his unintelligent award of contracts which negates budget variables, all in a bid to massage his egregious ego as the self acclaimed architect of modern Plateau and to further give visible expression to what is well known as his developmental corruption .

One wonders, how a simple task of reviewing a revolving loan empowerment programme guided by the terms of reference enumerated above, can illicit the kind of reaction it did from a supposed elder statesman, especially that the scheme by its very design was to be reviewed periodically to address the growing rate of Youth unemployment.

Senator Jang is one person who sees nothing good in the efforts of others besides himself; he is so fixated on vainly glorifying himself that his megalomaniac posture often leaves him paranoid. How else can one explain the open condemnation of the humbly posture of Governor Lalong in seeking to complete projects initiated by him and to bring to fruition those he would have hurriedly commissioned like the Plateau Land Administration Geographic Information System (PLAGIS), without completion, but for the labour strike at the point of his inglorious exit from the saddle of power. Governor Lalong has repeatedly told the people of Plateau that Government is a continuum and that the benefit of each project to the people of Plateau is central to his confirmation of critical on-going projects all placed on a scale of preference according to relevance.

Governor Lalong is not an escapist nor is he a coward; he is bold enough to confront situations headlong and as such cannot use the constitution of the Committee as a distraction from the on-going debate on the Grazing Policy. Former Governor Jang is the one who should bury his face in shame for denying his acceptance of the recommendation for the creation of grazing reserves in the Justice Niki Tobi JSC white Paper on the Report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Civil Disturbances in Jos.  In the white paper endorsed by Former Governor Jang; Item 3.137 reads “We therefore recommend that Government in conjunction with communities should provide Grazing Areas and Permanent Routes for cattle to enable the Fulani feed their cattle without interference to farmlands, this should not affect only the Beroms and the Irigwes in Jos South, Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Bassa, but other Local Government Areas where there could be similar animosity building up and bursting out into physical hostility in the future”.

Governor Lalong is not obsessed with who takes the credit for all he is doing is to allow the people of Plateau to live a meaningful life and enjoy the dividends of democracy. The pathogenic sadism of any person notwithstanding, he remains committed to this and is glad amongst other things that he is opening up opportunities to the people of Plateau through the Agricultural Policies of the Buhari Administration. Today through his commissioning of PLAGIS over 55,000 applications for Rights of Occupancy which remained unprocessed in the eight years of Former Governor Jang except for the isolated nepotic issuance of same by the last administration will receive attention. Proudly, this Rescue Mission in the Ministry of Lands and Survey will not only address our revenue challenge but it well provide bankable document for transactions and further reduce conflicts of rival claims of ownership, amongst the people, a thing that Senator Jang would have wished otherwise.

As the mist of former Governor Jang’s vain exaltation fades away, the days of his sleeplessness are birthing, because the Lalong Administration will stop at nothing to unravel how he has not only left the State economically traumatized but would furthermore unveil his hypocritical garment and show case him for who he really is. For Jang and his Team of collaborators, there are many more committees to be set up and he will be receiving many invitations to give account of his make believe “perfect stewardship” while overlooking the log in his eyes to only see the speck in the eyes of others. It will do him good to take a queue from the maturity of Former Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu who while appearing before a panel set-up by his successor, Governor Sani Bello, was reported in the The Nigeria Pilot Newspaper of June 21^st, 2016 to have said, he does not see it as a witch-hunt but a routine exercise by Government to balance the records properly and for him to give account of his stewardship. He further said, he did the same for his predecessor and he should expect same. This is the hallmark of true leadership which Former Governor Jang needs to be tutored on. If it will further be comforting to Senator Jang, the Lalong Administration will only be following in his foot step having set up upon assumption of office, a Committee to probe the Dariye Administration. What goes around comes around and there certainly is no hiding place for Jang. As the days role by and the EFCC settle to address the issues of the State SURE-P Funds, the State Primary Education Funds, the CBN N2bn SME Funds meant for Youth Empowerment, the deductions for 5 km Road Projects in 17 Local Governments Areas, the ASTC Project, the several bank charges and payment of commissions beyond regulatory limits, amongst the many politically motivated contract beneficiaries with the loop financial benefits to Government officials; we shall see how he retreats shamelessly into his cocoon. Let Senator Jang not loose sleep yet, for the days ahead will give him enough reasons to.

Just for the records, Governor Lalong is expecting more of the whining from Senator Jang, it is in keeping with his character and person, for so he did with Governor Dariye and we cannot expect this Leopard like the proverbial saying goes, to change his skin or even clean his spots. For if it is not him, his believe is that no one else is good, these are undoubtedly the irredeemable traits of those who self exalt. Pride they say goes before a fall, and for sure Senator Jang has gone off the cliff already.

A word of advice to Senator Jang is for him to watch to his chagrin the emergence of the new Plateau after him, for before his very eyes he will see a Multi-ethnic United Peaceful People destined for greatness by God. A thing we are certain he would have wished otherwise.

For now the mist hovering around the former Emperor’s self acclaimed greatness is fading and the motive behind every action of his is now becoming clearer.

The statement was signed by Samuel Emmanuel Nanle, Director of Press and Public Affairs to the Governor

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Brace up for more probes, Lalong tells Jang