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PDP youths tackle Plateau State chairman over alleged imposition

By Isa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos
28 February 2017   |   4:12 am
Hundreds of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youths from Langtang South local government council of Plateau State have protested the alleged plot by the state executive to impose a chairman on them.

PDP

Party denies any wrongdoing

Hundreds of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youths from Langtang South local government council of Plateau State have protested the alleged plot by the state executive to impose a chairman on them.

The youths who stormed the state secretariat of the party in Jos claimed that plans have been perfected to foist one Funturu Domnan as chairman of the party in Langtang South.

They particularly accused the state chairman of the party, Mr. Damishi Sango of responsible for the act, which they said, was contrary to the wishes of members in the local council area.

Besides, the placard carrying youths called for the resignation of the state chairman for purportedly failing in his responsibility and engaging in anti-party activities.

Some of their placards read: ‘We oppose tyrannical tendencies; the days of impunity are over; election is the answer; we need a leader and not a ruler; the truth must prevail; and Sango must do the right thing.’

The Guardian learnt that the dispute was occasioned by the insistence of the different clans in the local government to be the one to produce the chairman contrary to an arrangement to rotate it among the clans.

Following the unresolved issue, the national secretariat threw the congress open and sent officials to conduct it, sources claimed. Speaking to newsmen at PDP state secretariat in Jos, Mr. Nanpol Joseph Dadi who is also an aspirant in the party’s council congress election said the congress election of Langtang South did not hold because of some security reasons and was surprised that his opponent in the election is on the verge of declared as the duly elected chairman.

According to him, “we heard that the Plateau state chairman of PDP Hon. DT Sango is about to declare one Funturu Domnan, chairman of the party in Langtang South. We have come to complain to the state executive of the party as law abiding citizens of the state.”

He urged the state chairman and the state executive not to force an unpopular person on them, stressing that the purpose of their visit is to claim their rights in the scheme of things.

Speaking in the same vein, another youth, Yaknan Miri alleged that Sango did not want the progress of the party adding that this is responsible for the manner they are handling the issue

He cautioned that the state chairman should not be deceived into acts that are capable of boosting the fortunes of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Langtang South.

Consequently, Miri called on the party national secretariat in collaboration with the state executive to as a matter of urgency take the necessary measures by undertaking a fresh congress in Langtang South in the interest of for peace and tranquility.

However, Senator Abdul Ningi, a member National Caretaker Committee for organisation and mobilisation in a explained that the facts on ground do nt justify the conduct of a fresh congress for Langtang South.

Ningi in a letter addressed to the state chairman of the party, said that the best possible option and the way forward is for the stakeholders in Langtang South to close ranks.

According to him, all aggrieved persons should come together to build a team spirit and rally round the new executive in an effort to move the party forward in the area.

In his reaction the state deputy chairman of the party Mr. Amos Gombi commended the peaceful protest of the youths and the manner they expressed their grievances concerning the party in Langtang South.

But he denied any wrongdoing by the state executive insisting that there was never a plan to act contrary to the wishes of the party members. He assured them that their petition would be looked into with a view to addressing the contentious issues appropriately in the interest of the party and all the stakeholders.

Similarly, Sango who is a former minister for Sports explained that the issues in question transpired long before he emerged the state chairman of the party.

According to him, the local government congress of the party took place in May last year under the supervision of the national secretariat and that the leadership crisis of the party arising from the Port Harcourt convention as well as the subsequent litigations might have caused the Langtang South issue to linger.

His words: “I did not conduct the election. It was the national body of the party that conducted the election even before I emerged as chairman of the party in the state. I have no hand in it. It is the national body that conducted the election, which saw the emergence of Funturu Domnan. “Nobody is trying to impose anybody. The era of impunity is over.”

Sango said that probably the protesters were not adequately and properly informed if not they would not be accusing him of something he did not handle.

Also, a PDP stalwart in the state who claimed that such protest was strange said that the action of the Langtang South youths was “misconceived and misdirected,” adding that “They were not properly educated on how the Langtang South PDP new council chairman emerged.”

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