Follow Us on Google
From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang has called on his supporters not to allow themselves to be provoked by the political developments in the state, especially the contradictory decisions from the National Assembly Election Petition tribunal sitting in Jos.
The governor said that there are those who are hell bent on plunging the state into crisis just to have their way.
Mutfwang, who spoke in a state-wide broadcast on Monday evening, said, “We must not allow ourselves to be provoked into making unguarded statements that will only overheat the polity. We must allow the lawful grievance resolution mechanisms to be brought to a logical conclusion in an atmosphere devoid of threats or tension as some of our saboteurs would love.”
He said that as a government, he’s committed to protecting lives and properties and therefore assure all and sundry to go about their lawful duties without any fear or intimidation.
He urged the youths, “Not to allow people with unexplained wealth instigate you into violence. These are people who occupy positions of honour but are actually dishonourable. Unfortunately, their dubious wealth has not brought them the honour they crave for, hence their resolve to seek the destabilisation of our dear state.
“Doing the bidding of such miscreants mistaken for honourables will only ruin your God given potentials and destiny. I entreat you, flee from such leaders who preach and scheme evil. We must not allow the modest gains we have made in the last 3 months to be scuttled by utterances of a few rascals in our midst who found themselves in positions of honour they do not deserve.”
Mutfwang said that since he assumed office he had been tackling the issue of heightened security challenges and renewed attacks in some local governments on the eve of his inauguration, among which are over bloated civil service with some questionable appointments on the eve of elections; four months backlog of salaries to civil servants, a huge debt profile which exerts pressure on every income of the state and; a Jos metropolis in dire need of urgent cleaning, reorganisation and repairs.
He added, “We inherited a state engulfed in daily renewed attacks of our beloved ones, Civil servants were on strike due to unpaid salaries in the neighourhood of N11bn and unfulfilled obligations. The debt burden was in excess of N300 billion, constituting huge debt servicing burdens. Indeed, the problems were enormous.
“Regardless, we have so far put in place mechanisms to restore peace in the state and due process in the civil service, correct employment maleficence, appointments and placement irregularities saving Plateau
people a significant amount of money monthly, that hitherto went into the private pockets of some corrupt individuals who have been shortchanging and robbing the state through ghost workers and other illicit schemes deployed.
He accused these sets of people who are targeting his administration on social media and other smear campaigns.
“After a painstaking process of identifying these leakages, we cleared the backlog of salaries and have paid up to July 2023, while that of August will commence in the coming days.”
