• Insists he won’t defect to APC • Says party never existed in Plateau • Renews call for state police
From Ismail Omipidan, Abuja
Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State has revealed that the All Progressives Congress (APC), which ruled Plateau State for eight years, never won in those elections.
According to him, the party was in government by fraud in Plateau State for eight years, declaring that Plateau is a Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) fortress.
In this interview with Sunday Sun in Jos recently, the governor also spoke on why he has remained an advocate of state police, insisting that it is the only solution to the country’s myriads of security challenges.
He also spoke on the efforts being made by his administration to change the people’s perception with regards to the lack of trust between them and the government, among other issues. Excerpts:
Let us begin with the current happenings in your party, the PDP, two of your colleagues have joined the APC, when are you joining them? Or won’t His Excellency also port?
I haven’t had that conversation of leaving PDP for APC with anyone. The media have speculated a lot, but nothing has happened. It is a creation of certain individuals pushing their agenda. Plateau has always stood with PDP. APC has never existed on the Plateau. I say that with every sense of responsibility. Political affiliation is not a matter of opportunism, but a reflection of deeper ideological and historical bonds.
But the rumour here in Plateau that Governor Mutfwang will be defecting is very strong and thick. How come you are saying you have never had that discussion with anyone?
Look, those behind the defection rumours either misunderstand Plateau’s political landscape or seek to manufacture momentum where none exists. Some of them mean well, but are mistaken. There are some in APC who believe that they need our credibility to remain relevant politically. So, those ones wished we join them. The majority of those who have led APC in Plateau carry a trust deficit. There are genuine APC members who wish we could lend our credibility to them. But Plateau politics doesn’t work like that. There are two or three groups peddling that rumour. One group is well-intentioned. They know the APC has never really existed on the Plateau—I say that with every sense of responsibility. They’ve been in government by fraud for the past eight years. In 2015, they didn’t win that election. There was a wave of anger in the PDP that led to anti-party activities, but even then, the APC did not win. I was a local government chairman at the time. We adjourned the coalition at 8:00 p.m. to resume the next morning. But by 2:00 a.m., when I woke up to urinate, I found that the results had already been declared. Similarly, in 2019, the PDP’s late candidate, General Jeremiah Useni (rtd), won that election, but the shenanigans in the system saw someone else declared. So, these experiences have deepened PDP’s emotional and political roots in Plateau State. Therefore, my path will be guided by faith and commitment to service. My political future will be decided by God and the people. Wherever Plateau people go, that’s where we go.
But we also heard that there are some pockets of internal wranglings in the Plateau PDP, won’t that affect the party’s fortunes as well?
Regardless of the challenges we have at the national level, I am optimistic about the future of PDP. As a member of the party’s national reconciliation team, I admit there have been losses, including key legislative seats through court rulings, but progress is being made toward unity and renewal. I am a bona fide member of the PDP. I remain so. And I’m very optimistic that very soon, the PDP crisis will be a thing of the past. Our people are watching. They know who has stood with them in good and bad times. That’s what counts in Plateau politics—not propaganda, not press statements.
Are you in any way bothered about the security situation in your state? If yes, how have you been addressing it, especially in the light of agitations from some Nigerians that governors are not making judicious use of their security votes?
Let me quickly correct that impression. Security vote is not necessarily money you keep and spend anyhow you like. There have been so many misconceptions about the security vote, and it has become a source of accusations and suspicion. Until you join government, you won’t understand how the security vote functions. First of all, whether you like it or not, federal security institutions must be present in your state: the army, the police, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Civil Defence. Like most federal institutions, I can tell you that their basic operational needs are funded by state governments. That’s part of what the security vote is used for. Now, you cannot just set up your own institutional framework, because security is a function of law. But we are fortunate here in Plateau State that during the Goodluck Jonathan administration, we became the first state in the country to get approval to set up a state security apparatus, which is called Operation Rainbow. I can tell you that in the last eight years, it was comatose. But we have since revived it, and it has greatly assisted the security agencies and the state. Don’t forget, there are laws regulating the carrying of arms. Unfortunately, the prevalence of small arms and AK-47s in the country today is alarming. There’s a huge black market. But as a government, you must operate within the ambit of the law. So, security vote is not something you just dip your hand into. I don’t know how others use it, but for us, we don’t do that. For anything related to security, it’s a budgetary matter with a dedicated budget head. So, when there are security-related issues, you fund them from there. For example, do you know how much a Hilux vehicle costs now? The last time I checked, it was almost N100 million. You have to provide vehicles to the DSS, the police, and the Civil Defence. What they get from the Federal Government is not sufficient. Now, the way security agencies operate in every state depends a lot on their relationship with the state leadership. If you have a good relationship with them, their output improves.
But is that supposed to be the situation?
It’s a dicey relationship. In certain situations, political considerations come in, and what they know to be the reality on the ground is countered by the ‘ogas at the top’ in Abuja. So, you have to manage it well. It’s a delicate balance. Since the law places security agencies under the Federal Government, you can’t just arbitrarily break off and do your own thing. It has to be in collaboration with federal agencies. Until we have state police, what you’re talking about is not feasible.
Amotekun exists in five of the six Southwest states and is functional, are you not thinking in that direction before state police become a reality?
Yes, Amotekun is funded by the states. We are also funding Operation Rainbow in Plateau. It’s very functional—very, very functional. I can tell you that without Operation Rainbow, the situation in Plateau would have been far worse. Given the attacks and clashes, without it, things would have been terrible.
Are you for state police and do you see it happening?
I’m an unrepentant advocate of state police. Most of the security issues we face can be tackled with local policing. I recently received a briefing from our security chiefs here, and they are severely constrained. Someone in Abuja cannot know what’s happening in a remote village in my state. We need security federalism, a system that allows for localised responses. Like I said, it is easier for people at local level and villages to get the appropriate intelligence on security situation, not somebody at the state capital or Abuja. You can’t effectively police my state from Abuja, which is why I and others are calling for state police. I am optimistic we will get there. We need the power to protect our people. Security must be community-based, and that is only possible through state policing.
What are you doing to resolve the herders/farmers clashes on the Plateau?
I have challenged the narrative of farmer-herder clash. Recently, we sent tractors and security personnel to cultivate land abandoned by IDPs. Gunmen opened fire on the team. They had to retreat and later returned with reinforcement. So, I challenge the simplistic narrative of farmer/herder clashes. Since coming on board, I’ve found that it’s nothing but trash. It’s a façade to continue with organised criminality to ensure people do not cultivate their farms. When I met with Fulani leaders recently, I said: ‘Some of you have lived here for three or four generations. There’s no way you can be uprooted now. The earlier we see that we are together, the better, so we can live harmoniously. What you call herders/farmers clashes are a calculated campaign of land grabbing and economic sabotage designed to displace indigenous communities, cripple agriculture, and keep rural population in poverty. Many of those who have settled here have turned into fantastic farmers. I challenge these traditional narratives about our government working against anybody. When I met with them (Fulanis), we told ourselves the truth. Some of them are even hired by indigenes to look after their cows. Herding is not exclusive to the Fulani. So, what we are saying is, let economic activity be democratised. Anyone can do anything. There’s nothing that says you can’t become a potato farmer tomorrow. But despite our efforts, people still misrepresent the facts on ground for political reasons. People even try to claim it is about cattle rustling, but you don’t wipe out a village because three cows were stolen. This is land seizure. It’s about control, not conflict. Insecurity over the years has impoverished the people. Without economic power, they become vulnerable. We’re encouraging dialogue. We recently interfaced with Fulani leaders and are educating them.
What is your government’s relationship with the Muslim community on the Plateau?
Conscious of the fact that violence is driving a wedge between ethnic and religious groups, when we came in, we adopted policies rooted in inclusion, justice, and equity. I have done more than any governor since 1999 to reach out to the Muslim community on the Plateau. Today, we have a Muslim commissioner holding one of the most strategic portfolios – Water Resources and Energy. With our approach, trust is slowly being rebuilt, with communities beginning to recognise our government’s commitment to fairness, as shown in recent gestures of inter-faith solidarity during Christian and Muslim festivities. These may look intangible, but they form the bedrock for development. Without citizen belief and participation, you cannot drive transformation.
In the course of our conversation, each time you make reference to what previous governments had done, you don’t seem to include the last APC administration. Are you saying there is nothing tangible on the ground to attribute to them?
Well, I leave the assessment of that administration to the people of the state. Go to the town, ask them yourself. When I assumed office, I decided not to do the traditional thing—when an opposition government takes over, they start probing and maligning the outgone government. That’s not my focus. It’s not who I am. On a lighter note, even if they stole, they’re not the only thieves in the country. But honestly, many sectors we inherited were in terrible shape. The intake of students in our state polytechnic came down to about 3, 000. The day the rector of the state polytechnic came into my office, I said: ‘This man has to leave.’ He does not look like someone who would inspire students. One of the things we’ve done is to be less sentimental in appointments. We aim to place round pegs in round holes for balanced development across the state and we have been doing that. One accusation against past administrations is nepotism. We’re trying to address that. We want everyone to feel included, so we can break down the traditional mental barriers people have built over time. When we took over, we discovered that in the twilight of the last administration, there was a rush to recruit staff without following due process. I am now saddled with about 600 employees in the State House of Assembly of 24 members, with no defined duties and no office space. Yet, they are on the payroll. Instead of sacking them, we are rationalising, redeploying them to MDAs that need staff. That way, we balance things a bit. In tertiary institutions, ad-hoc staff had sustained the system for over 10 years. But when it came to recruitment, they were bypassed, and students they taught were given appointment letters. That’s wickedness. It wasn’t about qualification; there had just been no provision for recruitment. Institutions have standards. There should be interviews. For polytechnics, for example, there’s a minimum requirement, say, a 2:2 degree. But people were arbitrarily employed. So, we suspended all recruitments. Some of them went to court and the court ruled that technically, I, as governor, am not their employer, the governing councils are. Because we dissolved the councils, that was the loophole. Now that we’ve reconstituted the councils, we’ve told everyone to return and go through a proper recruitment process. If you’re qualified, you’ll be retained. But we won’t keep people who were appointed through arbitrary methods. One example: someone was given a teaching job, and his father came and said, ‘my son can’t teach.’ No interview, no screening. The appointments were made in the last days of the previous government just to burden us. Some things you read on social media are pure mischief. The schools will soon release accurate data. If I were sentimental, I would have sacked all the permanent secretaries who voted for the previous government, but I didn’t. I said, ‘let’s work together for the state,’ and many of them are doing well today.
Finally, we know that bandits operate from the forests, how are you tackling banditry in your state?
In the northern quadrant, near the National Park, bandits operate freely. But no local government is entirely occupied by them. The worst case was Wase LGA, which borders Taraba, Gombe, and Bauchi. That region has vast forests that became their den. But in the last two to three months, the situation has improved. We’re planning to restart grazing in the Wase reserve and reclaim the land. Some of the bandits operating in that belt even went for Hajj this year. Two were reportedly arrested. Kidnapping has become a buoyant economy, and we’re working to dismantle it. The first step to addressing insecurity is honest conversation. Mischaracterising the problem means applying the wrong solutions. That’s why the crisis has persisted across the country. It’s not the creation of Mr. President, as some try to spin it. I’m the Chief Security Officer of my state, but I’m only as effective as the information I get. I can’t go to the field. But with like I said earlier, local arrangement – Operation Rainbow – has helped to improve the situation tremendously with support from the federal security agencies. I can tell you that without Operation Rainbow, the situation in Plateau would have been far worse. Given the attacks and clashes, without it, things would have been terrible.