A senator representing
Plateau North senatorial district at the National Assembly, Jonah Jang, has
said he is ready to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari if Nigerians desire
”effective, positive change and a better country.”
Although Mr. Buhari is yet to formally declare his intention to
seek re-election, he is expected to run as the candidate of Nigeria’s ruling
All Progressives Congress.
Mr. Jang, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party,
governed Plateau State between 2007 and 2015. His anointed candidate, however,
lost the Plateau governorship election in 2015 to the APC’s Simon Lalong.
A panel set up by the incumbent governor has since found Mr.
Jang and other officials of his administrations of misappropriating hundreds of
millions of Naira of state funds while in office. Mr. Jang refused to appear
before the panel and has denied any wrongdoing.
On Sunday, the ex-governor also said the advice given by two
former heads of state, Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida, to the
president on 2019 was apt as, according to him, APC had not performed well
since assuming power in 2015.
Mr. Jang spoke during an interaction with journalists at his
residence in Du, Jos South Local Government Area of the state, on Sunday
evening.
Apart from restating his controversial comments a few days ago,
wherein he said the Senate is not meant for young persons, Mr. Jang also blamed
leadership failure for the killings by armed herdsmen in some parts of the
country.
The lawmaker also spoke on his frosty relationship with the
state governor, Simon Lalong, which has been a subject of media focus for a
while.
Mr. Jang said he will be ready to take over from Mr. Buhari after
he gets a go ahead from God.
“I’m in politics to
serve my people. If Nigerians really feel I can be President, why not? But I
will have to confide in my creator (God) first,” he said.
The former governor also
spoke on the comments by two former Nigerian leaders.
“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and General Ibrahim
Babangida just expressed their feelings among many Nigerians. Probably, they
voted for him (Buhari) in 2015, and they are just telling him (Buhari) that we
won’t give you (Buhari) our votes again.
“But for God sake, they (Obasanjo/Babangida) have done nothing
wrong. They have the right to express how they feel about his (Buhari)
governance. Most Nigerians did same during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration
even when he was trying his best. Why will Buhari’s own become an exception?”
He also accused the APC of ”mal-administration and mismanagement
at all levels of governance.”
“I don’t understand the reason for the blame game (by APC). If
till today, after two years in governance, the APC administration is blaming
PDP for it failures, then the time is up for them to leave.”
Mr. Jang also said he supported restructuring of the nation via
true federalism so as to enhance rapid national development.
He shed more light on his recent statement on the need for youth
to leave the Senate seats to the older ones.
“If you have hot heads of youthful nature in the Senate and
House of representatives, what kind of laws do you think the National Assembly
will produce for Nigerians? That is why the House of Representative is always
rowdy, full of young people, though we have a few of them (youth) in the
senate, the likes of Dino. That is why I said (the) Senate is not for the young
ones. And in Hausa language, the senate is called “Maijelisan Datibai” meaning
”assembly of elders”, so where is the position of the youth here?” Mr. Jang
asked.
The former governor also said he has not met with his
predecessor, Mr. Lalong, since he left office as governor two and a half years
ago.
“Shortly
before Lalong was inaugurated as governor, I personally invited him to talk
with him. I wrote him a letter that I personally signed, but he never came nor
has he replied me till today. As we speak, I have not seen Lalong since he
became governor. For God sake, even by age, I am older than Lalong. I’m above
70 years. He should pay me homage as an elder in this state (Plateau). “I was ready to help him, (Lalong)
guide him on how I was able to govern the state successfully, but he never
honoured my invitation till date. So how do I contribute to the development of
the state? So, I can’t assess him. Plateau people should assess Lalong not me
(Jang).”
He also called on the federal government to prosecute killed
herders
“Federal government needs to take more proactive and drastic
actions against herdsmen who are carrying firearms, killing people. To my
understanding, those herdsmen carrying firearms and killing people are not
Nigerians, they should be shown the way out of the country. The federal
government must answer this question: how do this killer herdsmen gain access
into Nigerian territory? Someone should be held responsible for this.”
“I was confronted with herdsmen attacks for eight years as
governor of Plateau State. State governors should be given powers in their
respective states to prosecute criminals, not just herdsmen. During my regime
as governor, some of the criminals were arrested, taken to Abuja, and they
disappeared in the thin air. Till date, none of them was prosecuted.”
He said the government should not get involved in the cattle
colonies it was proposing to stem the carnage between farmers and herdsmen
saying, “Cattle business is private business.”
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