The Name Hon. Chief John M. Dafaan is not a recent phenomenon in the politics of Modern Plateau State. He hails from Kwarin-Kwalla district of Quaanpan LGA of Plateau State. He hold a masters degree in History And International Relations, working as a public servant from 1990 to date. A former deputy governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria ACN in 2007 Plateau State governorship election, the imminent past Chief of Staff Government House Plateau State and Presently the Special Assistant to the Hon. Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Ahmed Idris Maje. Immediately after the premature death of the late Distinguished Sen. Longjan He is widely seen as the next Political godfather of the ruling APC in Quaanpan LGA. To those that knows him, he is a consummate, humble and a seasoned administrator to the core.

Anyone who is familiar with the politics of Plateau State since the return of the All Progressive Congress APC as a ruling party, History would always be kind to Hon. Chief John Dafaan, because he is among the key players of the party in the State. Going down the memory lane, immediately the All Progressive Congress APC took over the mantle of leadership in Plateau State in 2015, Hon. Chief John Dafaan was chosen and unanimously appointed as the new Chief of Staff Government House. Reasons not farfetched, his administrative prowess, records and achievement in public service were the cardinal doctrine that stands for him. Truth be told, all the plan, policies, programs and projects of the tagged Rescue Mission in Plateau State were designed, carried out and initiated by the exceptional son of the Pan Land. No wonder, Governor Lalong’s first tenure in office was a milestone.

Predictably, as the Plateau southern senatorial bye election to fill the vacant seat of the late Distinguished Senator Longjan draws closer, it is no longer news that the former Chief of Staff is vying for the position. However, nothing good is achieved on a platter of gold. All the familiar forces in Plateau State are now out to butcher a lion that is growing bigger in size, shape and structure, given them sleepless nights. Kudos to this very political gladiator whose dodgedness sends a message and shivers to those who wants him out of the cycle for just no cause. That lion whom everyone wants to butcher is Hon. Chief John Dafaan.

Despite the presence of multiple numbers of detractors and naysayers who have been sponsored to scuttle his senatorial efforts, surprisingly their numbers and figures keep on shrinking day in day out because they lacked any cogent reason to tanish his image. With the way things are going so far, and despite the global COVID-19 pandemic in Plateau State, the support and endorsement that Hon. Chief John Dafaan received on a daily basis is not only visible to the blind, but audible to the deaf. Hon. Chief John Dafaan has it all and remains the candidate to beat in the upcoming APC primaries for southern Plateau senatorial zone. The possibility of him winning the All Progressive Congress party primaries by a wide margin is beyond reasonable doubts. His progressive records in public service is the more reason his other opponents have resorted to blame games and throwing any dirty harts on him but yet, he keeps on shining and blushing like an early morning sunlight.

I kept asking myself this rhetorics, what exactly is the sins of Hon. Chief John Dafaan? This is a man who commited himself wholeheartedly to the service of Governor Lalong as a Chief of Staff without compromise. As a Chief of Staff, he was a loyal and a dutiful figure who overwhelmingly Masterminded and led to the reelection of the All Progressive Congress APC in 2019 general election in Plateau State. Is this what the State wants to repay him with? How on Earth will the Southern Plateau masses watch and allow their resourceful and deligent son who blocked financial leakages, deployed sound and Intellectual personnels and coordinate government activities go in vain? In fact, the former gate keeper made it possible for the Rescue Team Mission to be active and progressive. To those who follows trends and events in Plateau State currently, the whole story has changed today. It is not business as usual. Everyone calling and remembering the era of a colossus called Hon. Chief John Dafaan.

More often than not, and without fear or contradiction, it won’t be out of place to say that no Chief of Staff in the history of Plateau State has been as resourceful and committed as Hon. John Dafaan. His records of achievements as a Chief of Staff In the last dispensation of Governor Lalong first tenure can not be overemphasized. Aside from generating and creating an enabling environment for job opportunities, he also made it possible to facilitate ways of how the State only Government University, Plateau State University Bokkos PLASU, were able to graduate students for the first time since when the school took off. His name can not be erased out of the history of the All Progressive Congress achievements in Plateau State.

Lest I forget, there are some argument in some quarters that the former Chief of Staff was sentimental and tribalistic in his distribution of appointments, this claim is nothing but a balatant lies and mendacious agenda aimed at discrediting the image and personality of Hon. Chief John Dafaan. It was during his time as a Chief of staff that so long you are competent and credible, chances are high that one would be given an appointment if the opportunity warrants. The last batch of employed teachers across the 3 zones of the State can attest to this. One significant attributes of the former gatekeeper is that he is forthright, straightforward and honest. He says it the way it is, and has no skeleton in his cupboard. This is a man who always takes the bull by the horn when it comes to administrative assignment. Unfortunately, it is this transparent attributes of him that his critics and blind haters misinterpret as arrogance and pride. But I don’t blame them, because they are engaged in a political gimmick that would soon be short-lived.

By and large, the surest and the only way for the ruling All Progressive Congress APC to retain this Senatorial zone in their grips is to hand over the madate to Hon. Chief John Dafaan to run on it’s platform. He is the most experienced and capable hand of all the candidates in the ruling All Progressive Congress that would surely consolidate on the earlier developmental legacies put in place by the late Senator Longjan.
Political Analyst and Public Commentators within and outside Plateau State have all projected and pointed out that Hon. Chief John Dafaan will mercilessly defeat whoever the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party PDP presents in the election. However, only when the armband is given to the right captain. But I believe, me and my fellow Plateauneans knows who the right captain is, and he is Rt. Hon. John M. Dafaan. Anything outside this, would be highly and completely rejected at the polls!

Comrade Abubakar Sadeeq,
Political Analyst, Public Commentator, And A Concerned Citizen
Writes From;
Quaanpan LGA of Plateau State.
[email protected]

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PLATEAU SOUTH APC SENATORIAL BYE ELECTION PRIMARIES 2020: HON. CHIEF JOHN DAFAAN REMAINS THE CANDIDATE TO BEAT