Former Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, says it’s not true that Northern governors on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party worked against the re-election of former President Goodluck Jonathan during the 2015 general elections as claimed by ex-Niger State governor, Dr Babangida Aliyu.
On Friday, Aliyu had claimed that Northern governors of the PDP worked against Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.
The former governor had said he and his colleagues in the North worked against Jonathan’s re-election because he reneged on an agreement not to seek a second term.
Aliyu made this claim in a statement titled, ‘Why We Opposed Jonathan’s Second Term Bid –Babangida Aliyu.’
The former Niger State governor was reacting to his purported suspension by the PDP in Chachanga Local Government Area of the state for alleged anti-party activities, including working against Jonathan in 2015.
Jang who was Plateau State governor at the time, in a statement in Jos on Saturday, said there was no time the 19 northern governors “met, deliberated and decided not to support the re-election bid of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan.”
The former Plateau State governor, in the statement titled, ‘Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu Lied,’ but signed by his Media Consultant, Clinton Garuba, said, “The attention of the immediate past governor of Plateau State, Senator Dr. Jonah David Jang, has just been drawn to a statement credited to the past governor of Niger State, where he alleged that the then 19 states northern governors met, deliberated and all decided not to support the re-election of the then President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. We wish to state categorically that Senator Dr. Jonah Jang was not part of that meeting.
“For the avoidance of doubt, despite the perceived shortcomings of President Goodluck Jonathan, Senator Jonah believed that Jonathan was better equipped to rule Nigeria at the time, especially when his opponent was General Buhari. Jang did not hide his conviction concerning Buhari’s inabilities to resolve the Nation’s challenges and sensitivities of the issues at the moment. Unfortunately, Buhari won and we are all witnesses to the tales of woes.
“We view the statement of Dr. Aliyu as an attempt to drag the hard-earned reputation of Jang into disrepute, having served Nigeria as a military officer, later a civilian Governor and Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and discharged his responsibilities without blemish.
“Senator Jang is not one who speaks from both sides of his mouth, rather he speaks and supports only what he believes, little wonder that Plateau was won by President Jonathan in the 2015 general elections, largely due to the hard work of the then governor.
“For emphasis sake, there was no basis for Dr. Jang not to have supported Dr. Jonathan, especially when the contest was against General Buhari.”