Party executives of the main opposition party in Plateau State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the central zone have expressed shock and amusement on the purported disclaimer duly signed by the Plateau State APC Publicity Secretary; Mr. Sylvanus Namang on a purported leaked document for the endorsement of Hon. Bitrus Barji Kasuwa to replace Labour and employment Minister.
Chairman of the APC in Dawaki Ward of Kanke LGA, Mr Diray Sanen on Sunday 10th December 2023, expressed dismay over the statement saying that the actions of the mouthpiece of the party is sad and a bad omen for the party in the state having just lost the 2023 gubernatorial elections in the state.
According to him since the writers of the alleged leaked document confessed that their efforts to confirm from Hon. Bitrus Kasuwa Barji about the veracity of his purported endorsement by the State Party were fruitless, the Party should have considered such as fake news and refrain from making statements capable of questioning their neutrality.
Suffice it to mention here that, if the statement credited to the State Party Leadership is true to the effect that she does not know Hon. Bitrus Barji Kasuwa who bought forms and contested the Party primaries twice for the position of house of representatives to represent Kanam, Kanke and Pankshin Federal constituency, then such hasty conclusions leave much to be desired.
According to him, they had expect a non-partisan leadership to have made attempts to find out his membership status from his ward, if they can not pick his unit Party register which is in their possession at the moment to confirm for themselves.
He pointed out that the media space in the past few days is awashed with speculations of diverse interests about the replacement of his Excellency Rt. Hon. Barr. Simon Bako Lalong as Minister but we advise that the supremacy of the party at the State level should not be exercised to satisfy few interests by throwing caution to the winds and making uncomplimentary remarks about other party members.
He stressed that fter all, even if some State Party executives who were not in APC at its formative age claim not to know Hon. Bitrus Kasuwa Barji for certain vested interest, does it also mean that the State party executive members from Kanam, Kanke and Pankshin do not also know him? He asked.
He added that the right thing to do is for the party to take stock of all those interested in the Ministerial position and fashion out a systematic approach to harmonize all interests without necessarily casting aspirations on Legitimate Party members, stressing that doing so will improve and strengthen the cohesiveness of the party to squarely face the challenges ahead.
He noted that most importantly, the zone strongly believe that the replacement of Labour Minister should be an opportunity for Plateau Central Zone to present someone like Hon. Bitrus Barji Kasuwa who is a youth with unparalleled vision, capacity, competence and above all a party loyalist of repute for the position.
He concluded thus “Finally, it must be borne in mind that, recent developments show that past Governors from the southern and Northern Plateau have nominated candidates from their zones for Ministerial slots and were appointed. This to us is a precedent that Plateau Central zone should not be treated in isolation but should enjoy such privilege as well which Hon. Barji has all it takes to be nominated for the replacement of Labour Minister for the growth of Nigeria and advancement of APC as a party.”.
Nigeria Star News 