Following pronouncements by the Governor of Plateau State, Barr. Simon Lalong, that the Jang administration left a debt of N104 Billion in the handover notes, ViewPointNigeria contacted principal officers of the Jang administration in order to confirm or rebuff the allegations.

In a strongly worded response, one of the aides of the ex-governor – Mr. Clinton Garuba, said “whilst it is true that in the handover notes to the new governor the debt profile for the state is stated as N104 billion, it must be made clear that Governor Jang’s administration did not borrow N104 billion as insinuated in some quarters”. He said “the Jang administration only borrowed approx. N18bn over its 8 years of administration.  And the projects it has executed with the fund, speaks volumes”.

Clarifying further, he said the balance of the said N104bn, spreads across contractual agreements for ongoing projects and those approved but not yet mobilised, in addition to the outstanding of 6 months salaries of civil servants.

Clinton said, “Senator Jonah Jang is committed to the development of Plateau State beyond individualism and party affiliations and therefore has committed to work with the Lalong administration in the task of moving Plateau further”. “It is the desire of Senator Jang, that the current administration does well for the people of Plateau and as such, he is pledging his support to the new government in order for it to surpass the achievements of his administration.

In closing, Clinton appealed to the Lalong administration to forget trivialities and focus on the key task of nation building/providing the dividends of democracy to the people of Plateau. He said “the people of Plateau will not judge the Lalong administration by the number of accusations, counter accusations or excuses it has levelled but on the extent to which it has met their yearnings and aspirations of the citizenry through projects execution.

For the earlier report about allegations made by Simon Lalong, see:

http://www.viewpointnigeria.com/lalong-jang-left-104-billion-debt-in-handover-note-to-me/

count | 2008

Jang’s aide responds to Lalong’s allegation of N104 billion debt