RT. HON. DANIEL NAANLONG'S COMMENT IS A SYMPHONY OF IGNORANCE AND POLITICAL DELUSION || HON. BARR. SOLOMON DALUNG

 

I listened, with a sense of nostalgia the exhibition of crass ignorance of Rt. Hon. Naanlong Daniel, Speaker, Plateau State House of Assembly, when he recently declared that with the appointment of Prof. Yilwada Nentawe as APC National Chairman, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would no longer need to campaign in Plateau State in 2027.

This is not only politically naive but dangerously detached from reality.

To begin with, there is no functional APC in Plateau State. The party was disgracefully voted out of office in the 2023 general elections due to monumental failure, non-performance, and a legacy of broken promises. Ironically, the Speaker himself is a product of judicial fiat rather than the people’s mandate. How then can someone wearing borrowed robes offer garments to another?

The Speaker’s boast that the APC is waiting to defeat Governor Caleb Mutfwang in 2027 reeks of ambitious hallucination. The APC in Plateau has become a political relic, more notorious for failed leadership, false promises, and election rigging than for any progressive vision.

The real and pressing challenges in Plateau are insecurity, poverty, and hunger, issues that fall within the purview of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, where Prof. Nentawe previously served, yet failed to make meaningful impact. If he could not deliver in a ministry with a clear humanitarian mandate, how then can a ceremonial position like APC National Chairman, typically a messenger of presidential interests and electoral errands, transform the fortunes of a people displaced from their ancestral lands by terrorists?

Prof. Nentawe’s appointment is not borne out of merit or capacity to deliver, but rather a political balancing act to pacify the fallout of the ignoble Muslim-Muslim ticket and suppress the aspiration of a Northern Christian alternative. It's also worth noting that Hon. Yakubu Dogara has quietly been compensated with a newly created agency, a clear indication that appointments are now tools of appeasement, not development.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs is one of the most strategic agencies in government, with vast budgetary allocations and influence. Plateau State would have benefitted far more if Prof. Nentawe were appointed Minister. Instead, the APC chose to prioritise partisan calculations over the wellbeing of citizens entrusting the office of National Chairman to someone they hope can serve electoral interests, even though he may lack the political weight to execute such hidden agendas.

History is rife with how national party chairmanships have been weaponized against the North Central. From Chief Solomon Lar, Chief Barnabas Gemade, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Col. Ahmadu Ali, to Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the script is always the same: use them for elections, discard them afterward with trumped-up corruption charges. Prof. Nentawe's fate is likely no different. His appointment has likely marked the beginning of the end of his political journey.

As we approach 2027, APC is clearly not in the equation in Plateau State. The political permutations are tilting towards a contest between the PDP and the ADC-led coalition. Ironically, the Speaker’s suggestion that President Tinubu need not campaign in Plateau may be the only electoral advice with merit—perhaps inadvertently admitting that APC stands no chance unless it engineers another internal PDP crisis to hijack through judicial manipulation.

Let them continue in their self-deceit. Just like Senator Lalong, Director-General of APC’s 2023 campaign, who was disgraced at the polls, losing even his own polling unit, the same fate awaits any APC figure imposed on Plateau without the people’s consent.

Nonetheless, congratulations to Professor Yilwada Nentawe. While you may have gained personally, the people of Plateau will remain watchful, and history shall be the ultimate judge.

Hon. Barr. Solomon Dalung.

Former minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.