Former Governor Simon Lalong has chided the Speaker, Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. Gabriel Dewan, for his refusal to swear in the remaining six elected All Progressives Congress, APC, House of Assembly members.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting of the party in Jos, Plateau State, the former governor, who is a serving senator representing Plateau South, said it was regrettable that the Speaker has continued to disobey court judgement and also boasted publicly that he was at liberty to decide.
While maintaining that the APC has a majority in the House, Lalong said the alleged fear that the House will be used to fight the Governor is unfounded and mere political talk.
Senator Lalong urged the APC members in the House to prevail on the Speaker to do the right thing, as today’s injustice will consume those perpetrating it tomorrow, adding that the alleged request that the members have to sign resignation letters before they are sworn in is undemocratic and also an affront to the rule of law.
He called on the House to pass a resolution recalling all local government chairmen and councillors who were illegally removed from office.
The former governor therefore commended the party leadership for holding forth and pushing on with the reconciliation efforts that have largely addressed the grievances of members at various levels.
Lalong also assured the party members that their concerns over the non-appointment of a Minister for Plateau State have been made to the President, who will soon rectify the matter.
Party Chairman Hon. Rufus Bature commended the party members for showing unity, maturity, and capacity in the last primaries where candidates emerged.
He reiterated that the Party was ready to participate in the upcoming local government elections and optimistic of victory as Plateau people are disappointed with the current PDP government, which has performed poorly without delivering the dividends of democracy despite the huge allocations running into billions of naira received over the past year.
Senator Diket Plang, in his remarks, asked the members to be steadfast and come together for the victory of the party in the elections and also encouraged them to continue to explore the intraparty dispute resolution mechanisms.
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