The minor cabinet reshuffle and suspension of four members by Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang has drawn the ire and disappointment of the state All Progressives Congress (APC), which described the exercise as illogical and biassed, as those affected are from the Southern part of the state where the governor does not have meaningful stakeholders.
Governor Mutfwang had on Tuesday approved the immediate suspension of four key officials.
The affected officials include Hon. Chrysanthus Dawam, Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, and Hon. Jamila Tukur, Commissioner for Tourism, Culture, and Hospitality. Also affected are Hon. Dio Lamul, Special Adviser on Rural Development, and Hon. Moses Sule, Liaison Officer for Mikang Constituency. The suspensions took effect immediately.
A statement on Wednesday by the Plateau State Acting Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Shittu Bamaiyi, said that the suspension of the officers is biased as they are all from the southern part of the state.
The statement read, “The affected cabinet members are two commissioners, a special adviser, and a liaison officer from Qua’an Pan and Mikang local government areas in the southern part of Plateau State.
“It is expected that, under a sane climate and in an ideal situation, the government owes the people of the state explanations as to the reason for the suspension of the four cabinet members from a particular geopolitical zone.
“The calculated and deliberate silence by the government on the matter smacks of conspiracy theories and suspicions, especially in the political space, where threats reigned during the PDP’s just-concluded bloody primary elections in that political ecosystem.
“Circumstantial evidence points to the fact that the suspended public officers might be the first batch of casualties registered as a result of the flexing of political muscles between the ‘cabal’ and the former members of the National Assembly.”
Bamaiyi, who quoted some unnamed sources, said the two suspended commissioners from Qua’an Pan belong to a political bloc with the former member of the House of Representatives, Isaac Kwallu, who reportedly fought the anointed candidate of the cabal, Christopher Audu, during the botched violent primary elections in the area.
He added, “In the same breath, the suspended special adviser and the liaison officer, both from Mikang, were said to be linked to George Daika, who also reportedly worked against the interests of the cabal in that locality.
“From all available information, the dirty in-house fighting has no doubt widened and deepened the existing schisms in the PDP, thereby making a noticeable difference between the party’s newcomers and the old-timers, who are believed to be well-grounded grassroots mobilizers.
“Furthermore, it is rumoured that the head of the cabal, one Yari Kumchi, is the government’s ‘man Friday’ and yeoman, who is determined to cut to size the Kwallus, Shekaraus, Daikas, Lars, Golus, Marens, and Dabangs for the Mutfwang government to get a fresh political breath.”
Impeccable sources, according to Bamaiyi, “Also have it that, as a counter move, the former members of the National Assembly presently in government have been meeting and contemplating putting in their resignation letters very soon in order to avoid any embarrassment and also to allow them to fight the cabal frontally.
“What is going on in the PDP clearly shows desperation, victimisation, and misuse of power for self-aggrandisement against the collective interest of the people.”
