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By Louis Ibah
Former governor of Plateau, Jonah Jang, has been accused of playing religious card with the recent commissioning of the 10 Commandment Prayer Altar in the state.
Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Town Planning, Yakubu Dati, in a statement entitled: “The two faced Janus on the Plateau,” alleged that the former governor was using the commissioning of the prayer altar to divert public attention from the N6.3 billion allegedly mismanaged while in office. He urged the people to be wise.
“The building of the 10 Commandment Prayer Altar by former governor Jang is an attempt to use religion to pull the wool over the people’s eyes in order to cover up for the failings of his administration. It is also a decoy to take the minds of the people off the current attempt by the Governor Simon Lalong-led administration to recover monies allegedly stolen during the tenure of Jang and for which the latter is standing trial.
“The case which has been on for some time now aims at recovering a whopping N6.3 billion from the former governor and many witnesses have appeared to testify and give evidence that will facilitate justice and hopefully, repatriation of stolen funds.
“But, as the people are astonished with these testimonies, Jang tries to play on their emotions by playing the religious card,” Dati said.
The commissioner said the people of Plateau have never lacked a place to pray as the state is headquarters to many religious organisations.
“It is therefore surprising that someone will try to make an issue out of building a business enterprise with a small cubicle for prayer. What however is not surprising, is that Jang would again be playing the religious card as that has been his stock in trade- to use religion to deceive the people.
“When he was governor, he relied on this gimmick to deceive the people and now, instead of making restitution, he is at it again. The most unfortunate aspect is inviting unsuspecting leaders like former president Goodluck Jonathan to grace the occasion. Not a single Governor showed up. Even his former colleagues avoided the event like a plague.
“As a self acclaimed pastor, Jang knows very well that there are certain standards expected of a man who wishes to please God by building a place of worship and that he hardly fits in the description. Between 2008 and 2013, when he was in charge, Plateau State witnessed one of the worst spate of bloodshed in its history with many lives and property worth billions of naira destroyed. Jang has also not cleared himself of the charges over the N6.3 billion allegedly misappropriated yet so he lacks the moral standing to offer a spiritual lift. Offering a house of prayer at this time is the height of hypocrisy.”
