Local Government elections were conducted in 17 LGCs on the Plateau on Tuesday, 25th of February, 2014 and the results were not announced until Saturday, 1st of March, 2014. The good of the election was that it was eventually conducted after string of procrastinations and it was done peacefully – atleast Plateau citizens now understand that no politician is worth dying for – but elections in Langtang North Local Government was inconclusive owing to the ineptitude of PLASIEC, the body responsible for conducting Local Government elections within the State.

Local Government elections were conducted in 17 LGCs on the Plateau on Tuesday, 25th of February, 2014 and the results were not announced until Saturday, 1st of March, 2014. The good of the election was that it was eventually conducted after string of procrastinations and it was done peacefully – atleast Plateau citizens now understand that no politician is worth dying for – but elections in Langtang North Local Government was inconclusive owing to the ineptitude of PLASIEC, the body responsible for conducting Local Government elections within the State.

From the manner in which the elections were carried out, it appears PLASIEC was acting a script written by PDP and that should explain continuous postponement of the elections, late and shoddy recruitment of ad-hoc staff, and the sketchy details of the manner of election which I feel the opposition should have seen it coming. Langtang North was the only Local Government to produce a non-PDP Chairman in the 15 LGCs where elections were conducted, which was considered by PDP faithfuls as a gross mistake orchestrated at the Government house. An unpopular candidate was presented to the people of Langtang North under the flagship of PDP but the masses shunned him and opted for the DPP candidate, Daniel Dul, who glaringly was supposed to win but for the foul play of PLASIEC who still want people to pay for their misdemeanor. Results expected from the ward of the PDP candidate were miraculously transported to Jos and the people of the Local Government declared that if the DPP candidate doesn’t win the election then they will not accept the results. PLASIEC then fixed a date for re-run elections but the ardent supporters of the supposed winner secured a court injunction preventing PLASIEC from conducting a rerun election on Tuesday, 4th March and maybe as a means of punishing Langtang North, their popular candidate was not deemed the winner of the election and so was not sworn in as the winner of the Chairmanship election while his other 14 contemporaries were sworn in on Monday, 3rd of March.

Now, usually, after the Chairman is sworn-in in Jos, he returns to his Local Government to swear in his deputy and other councilors who won the election. Without the Chairman of Langtang North being sworn in, how will his deputy and other councilors be sworn in? Why should the ineptitude, or should I say misdemeanor of PLASIEC affect these elected people? Now because of one ward, a whole Local Government is paying for the sins committed by PLASIEC. There were also cases of omission in names of some voters. Langtang North is not my Local Government but what affects it also affects me because tomorrow it may be my Local Government’s turn if nothing is done about it. The beauty of a good work lies in its completion and if elections were inconclusive as a result of PLASIEC’s negligence after several bouts of postponement then I want to declare a vote of no confidence on the electoral body. I am happy that in some wards of each Local Government, people won councillorship positions under flagships of APC, DPP, LP and even APGA. For me, this represents the growth in political consciousness of the people, don’t get me wrong, all of us cannot and should not dump our eggs in one basket because if all of us are thinking in one direction, then no one is thinking at all.

I pray that justice should be done to the people of Langtang instead of looking out for the interest of PDP alone. The election was better than the previous ones but we cannot be complacent enough to be satisfied with an average performance. The resources are there to have a better output and that is what the people demand. All other Chairmen won their elections on platforms merit and popularity, perhaps PLASIEC should be given a pat on the back for that but it should not be done if there is a pertinent pending issue to be resolved.

count | 61

Plateau state Local Government elections, How good? by Bizum Yadok