Plateau State has said those against it’s policies and activities are exercising their constitutional and democratic rights.

The government, however, added that such criticisms should be objective and constructive, to help the administration to improve on governance.

Commissioner for Information and Communication, Muhammed Nazif, made the appeal yesterday while briefing journalists at the Conference Hall of the Cabinet Office, Joseph Gomwalk Secretariat, Jos, after one year and three months of the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the state.

According to Nazif, the formation of the APC government in the state followed the need for change as expressed by the people, adding that it was this idea of change that provided the vision for the projects, programmes and policies of the administration led by Governor Simon Lalong.

He said: “As you are aware, the Ministry of Information and Communication is officially saddled with the responsibility of gathering and disseminating of information on government policies and programmes. It also liaises with all media outfits and information and communication outfits and related bodies within and outside the state to provide positive image for the government and citizenry. Hence the introduction of the monthly press briefing.”

Nazif added that: “One of the major challenges of this administration at inception was the financial crisis it faced. You would recall that we inherited a debt stock of about N210 billion from the immediate past administration. We also inherited a backlog of unpaid salaries and pension/gratuity arrears to the tune of N9.8 billion and N10.037 billion respectively.

“With the access of salary bailouts of N5.3 billion and N5.2 billion, payment of the whole salary arrears and part of pension was effected.