Lalong optimistic as party flags off guber campaign in Plateau

• State commemorates Day of Forgiveness, Reconciliation
Plateau State Governor and Director General of All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC PCC), Simon Lalong, has expressed optimism that the party will win big at state and federal levels during the general elections.

The governor, who disclosed this, while speaking at flag-off of the APC gubernatorial campaign in Wase Council, said the party has performed excellently in the state and in the country, therefore, making it formidable.

He expressed satisfaction that while he has been busy crisscrossing the country with the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, the APC gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda, and his team have also been traversing the nooks and crannies of the state canvassing votes.

Lalong said from the response, so far, the people of Nigeria and Plateau State have decided to go with Tinubu as president and Yilwatda as the next governor of Plateau State.

Speaking on achievements of his administration, the governor said while he inherited a state riddled with crises and violence, he is handing over a state that is peaceful and full of life and economic activities.

He added that his government has completed most of the abandoned projects he inherited and executed others.

This came as people of the state converged on the Rwang Pam Township Stadium in Jos to commemorate this year’s Plateau Day and Day of Forgiveness and Reconciliation.

The day is set aside to mark the 47th anniversary of the creation of Plateau State and reflect on past upheavals that once robbed the state of its peace.

Speaking at the event, Lalong said his heart was filled with joy that his administration laid a solid foundation for peace, justice, equality, tolerance and hospitality.

He said with the support of traditional, religious and community leaders, the government worked hard to reverse damage to fractured inter-group coexistence.

He said: “Today, the deep-seated level of mutual distrust, suspicion and hate that once characterised social relations between people of different ethno-religious backgrounds across Plateau State has greatly reduced to the barest.”

“This is a result of hours, days, months and years of work put in by the Plateau Peace Building Agency, which we established, backed by law, as well as the Inter-Religious Council that was also inaugurated with the top leadership of the Christian and Muslim faiths deeply involved.”

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, showered praises on Lalong for being passionate about peace and reconciliation and restoring calm to the state.

He said initiatives put in place by the governor have galvanised the entire state and brought together people who are no longer looking at one another with suspicion, bitterness and hatred.