The immediate past governor of Plateau State and Senator representing Plateau North, Jonah Jang, on Friday appealed to members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the State and the nation at large to device ways of protecting their victories in upcoming elections in the country.
He said what happened in Edo State recently was a typical example of how they were rigged out by the ruling APC.
Jang stated this at the State PDP Secretariat in Jos, while addressing party stakeholders, after the inauguration of the Re-conciliatory, Elders and Finance Committees by the Chairman of the party, Hon. Damishi Sango.
“Let me say something, there is something that is generally wrong with us PDP, not only in Plateau but nationwide; this party is very popular in all the 36 States and Abuja, we will win election but we don’t know how to protect our victory.
“This is exactly what has just happened in Edo State, and this is exactly what happened in Plateau; we did not lose that governorship election, but we allowed ourselves to be rigged out”, he lamented.
“And I think this is something, Mr. Chairman when you meet with your colleagues from other States, and for all of us who in the BoT, NEC, Caucus at the national level will now start emphasising on how we should plan to defend our victories come 2019.
“So that our people would not go and lineup and we win election and then these same results are changed.
“We take things for granted too much, we think we are so popular that other organs that conduct elections, will just go by our own gentility, do things the way things are done in the normal democratic way”, he stressed.
“But we have seen that when you have an opponent who is undemocratic, you have to fine a way to counter undemocratic behaviours.
He appealed to party faithfuls to stop lamenting about the loss in the 2015 polls, stressing that “what has happened occurred because we are still learning the rhythms of democracy. And I believe that very soon we will become matured democrats.
“As we are seeing examples from other developed nations, today the Republicans really do not want Donald Trump as President, but they are not running away from their party. None of them has said he is going to do anti-party.
“And I think this is the spirit that we should learn from other developed nations. Once there is a collection of human beings in one place, our opinions can never be the same, we must have some differences, but we must be able to tolerate each other’s differences and that will make us greater.
“I believe we have all learnt from our mistakes, we now know what it is to loose power.”
Jang who was governor of Plateau from 2007 to 2015, further stated that, “I have always said it, it is better to have the worst of your own in that government house, than to have the best of their own there; and now we have seen it.
“Even if we have had the worst of our own there, we should walk into that government house confidently.
“I tell you, since I left government house, on the 29th May, 2015, I have never even driven in front of the government house”, he lamented further.
“And that is a brand new government house I had given Plateau State, and we allowed it to be taken away. But I hope they will take care of it so that by 2019 we will occupy it again.
“And I believe the inauguration of the elders committee and others is the beginning of getting us ready to put our acts together and be able to capture power back here on the Plateau”.
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