Jos, the Plateau State capital and its environs erupted in jubilation following the declaration of Barr Caleb Mutfwang of the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The returning officer and deputy vice chancellor, Federal University Lafia, Prof Idris Amali while declaring the results at INEC state office, Miango Road, Kufang Jos, said Barr Caleb Mutfwang (PDP) scored a total of 525,299 votes to defeat his closest rival, Nentawe Yilwatda of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who scored 481,370 votes.
After waiting for days with bated breath, the final announcement of the results in Jos brought a sigh of relief to children, women, youths and the aged cutting across all ethnic nationalities from different religious background as they celebrate what they believe is the birth of a new Plateau.
The atmosphere in Plateau South, the Senatorial zone of the pioneer national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the late Chief Solomon Lar, and Mangu LGA, also the hometown of Barr Caleb Mutfwang were also agog as masquerades were seen celebrating the exit of the ruling APC in the state.
They added colour to the celebration with several masked dances, walking around communities to express their satisfaction with the result of the polls.
Besides, the people defied a heavy downpour on Monday, March 20, 2023 and converged on Miango Junction in Jos, where the INEC office is located to wait patiently for the declaration of the results of the Saturday March 18 governorship election.
They blocked the entrance to the state INEC headquarters and were determined to ensure that only the transmitted result to the INEC server from the various polling units were collated and announced.
Meanwhile, so many people have reacted to the victory of the PDP. Among them is Gyang Moses who sells cow meat at the popular Kurgiya Market Bukuru in Jos South LGA.
He abandoned his business and joined the celebration train when the result filtered in that the candidate of the PDP, Mutfwang was declared winner of the election.
According to him, “We have experienced almost eight years of pain and hardship with nobody speaking for Plateau people. We survived the last seven years by God’s mercy and I am sure that Mutfwang’s declaration was a reflection of the will of Plateau people.
Similarly, a staunch supporter of the PDP, Nanle Bitrus, said the over seven year-APC administration in the state has brought hardship to the people where jobs were lost and businesses closed down due to unfriendly economic policies.
He expressed the optimism that life would be better and meaningful with the PDP government that has demonstrated commitment and resilience towards service to the people under Jonah Jang. He expressed the hope that Mutfwang will replicate the good gesture with a clear vision of bringing huge development to the state.
“This shows that the people spoke loudly and God answered their cry. Plateau is in love with the PDP, a political party that has a reflection of the core values of human face in its manifesto,” he said.
In a build-up to the postponed governorship election, the vice president-elect, Sen Kashim Shettima had visited Plateau State to canvass support for the APC. He was said to have met with Sheikh Yahaya Jingir and the leadership of the Muslim community in the state.
Governor Nasiru el-Rufai of Kaduna State was not left out of strategising to win Plateau as he also visited Jos to canvass support for the APC. Analysts have said that their intention was for the party to win the governorship election at all cost since the director-general of the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Council, Governor Simon Lalong, could not deliver victory for his principal and was also unable to win the senatorial seat.
This is also followed by the controversial endorsement of the APC candidate, Dr Nentawe Yilwatda by Sheikh Yahaya Jingir. He was loud in his directive to all Muslims in the state to vote for the APC at the governorship election.
But his directive was in vain as some members of the Muslim community who had come a long way with their Christian counterparts after several ugly experiences declined his directive and moved in line with the popular opinion of Plateau citizens to deepen unity in diversity with Caleb Mutfwang.
It would be recalled that during the presidential and national assembly election, most people in the state engaged in what is popularly known as the ‘Rice and Beans’ voting pattern. This refers to a situation where people vote for different parties in the same election while still remaining bonafide members of their original political parties.
Governor Lalong, had, while inaugurating a 40-man presidential campaign council committee warned party members in the state to avoid the pattern of rice and beans voting in the state. Insisting that the vote cast must be for the APC from top to bottom, the governor threatened to put stones and sand in the rice and beans if it eventually occurs.
However, many believed that it was high-handedness on his part to try to force party faithful to vote in a particular way without recourse to democracy, performance and the credibility of candidates which offers the electorate the freedom to vote for candidates of their choice.
According to them, the business of voting in an election ought to be devoid of any form of coercion or threat.
The people of the state also repeated the ‘rice and beans’ voting pattern during the governorship election.
Political pundits in the state are of the belief that Lalong has betrayed the trust and confidence bestowed on him in the beginning stressing that after seven years in office, he has grossly disappointed the people. They alleged that the performance profile of the governor and chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum is empty, with basically nothing to show in terms of projects or programmes that would have impacted meaningfully on the generality of Plateau people.
Also, there was the wide-held belief that the APC candidate was singlehandedly imposed by the governor and his wife during the APC party primaries. These were among other reasons for his losing out completely in the state.
Speaking on the defeat of the ruling party, the North Central zonal coordinator of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Comrade Steve Aluko noted that revolt by whatever means is possible, adding that what they saw in Plateau State
is the revolt of the people just like the revolt against Jang that brought in Governor Lalong in 2015.
“Lalong’s defeat is a welcome development and the message is that anybody can lose an election, whether
incumbent or not. Whatever one’s performance is while in office will spell good or doom. It is the verdict of the people and it should be so respected,” he said.
Aluko further said this development is part of the new Nigeria that has just begun, adding that other governors have also learnt bitter lessons by the revolt of the people as a result of poor performance.
In his acceptance speech, the governor-elect, Barr Caleb Mutfwang said the trust the people of the state have given him is not going to be taken for granted.
He pointed out that the enormity of the task ahead is not lost on him, knowing that God Almighty supplies grace for every given assignment.
” I’m confident that I shall not come short of the expectations of the people of the state. I therefore humbly accept this responsibility because the time to rescue Plateau is now,” he promised.
Mutfwang further stressed that, “As we begin the transition process, I want to assure all Plateau citizens that I’ll be governor of all. I intend to set up an inclusive administration with a clear vision of developing the entire state.”
He pointed out that his administration shall be fair and just in their dealings while calling on all and sundry to rise up together as a united people to confront the challenges ahead.
