The immediate past elected Councillors Forum of Nigeria, Plateau State Chapter, has rejected in totality Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang‘s decision to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

Addressing journalists on Monday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Jos, the forum’s chairman, Hon. Dabit John Dashe, assisted by his secretary, Hon. Choji Williams Musho, addressed a press statement issued on November 18, 2025, by a non-existent and faceless group claiming to be the Coalition of Concerned Former APC Councillors and Grassroots mobilizers (CFACGM).

“This group has called on Governor Caleb Mannaseh Mutfwang to join the APC. We view this as a desperate attempt by the governor and his agents to smuggle him into the party through the back door.”

Dashe said, “We urge the general public to note that this group does not represent the interests of either the former nor the present councillors in Plateau State.

“The governor has consistently stated that there is no APC in Plateau State and has no intention of joining a party on the verge of collapse. His recent desperation to join the APC is therefore puzzling.”

He commended Plateau people for enduring the Mutfwang regime’s maladministration, which has led to suffering, homelessness and job losses.

“The Mutfwang’s government has disregarded over 4,000 Plateau youths in the state, the same government ignored the Supreme Court judgement and sacked democratically elected chairmen and councillors from all the 17 local governments of Plateau State. Such actions disqualify Governor Mutfwang from joining our progressive party, APC,” Dashe added.

He then called on the APC leadership, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National chairman of the APC Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, state chairman Rufus Bature and the state leader of the party, Senator Simon Bako Lalong, to reject Mutfwang’s bid to join the APC.

He said, “His administration’s failures in governance, infrastructure deficit, termination of employment of Plateau youths, destruction of widows and young people’s businesses in the state make him an unsuitable candidate for our party.”

He stressed further, “During the 2023 presidential campaign, the Governor’s divisive rhetoric and actions, including calumnious campaigns against the then Presidential and Vice presidential candidates Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, are still fresh in our minds.

“We still want to remind the governor that our party is still the Muslim-Muslim ticket he demonised in 2023. His desperation to join the APC raises suspicions about his motives. We believe accepting him would be a self-infliction on our party, APC.”

According to the chairman, given the APC’s strong presence in the state assembly members, “we question what value Mutfwang brings to our party. His track record of saying one thing and doing the opposite makes him untrustworthy.

“We reject any attempt to bring Mutfwang into our party and urge him to remain in the PDP, allowing us to work as opposition and hold him accountable, thereby strengthening our democracy.”

The chairman used the opportunity to endorse President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027 and also pass a vote of confidence in the workaholic National Chairman of APC, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.

However, a statement from the Director of Press and Public Affairs to the Governor, Dr Gyang Bere, had earlier exonerated the governor from decamping to any party other than his PDP.