1st July, 2022.
The attention of the All Progressives Congress in Plateau State has been drawn to a press release by the People’s Democratic Party of a purported decamping of hundreds of APC members to its camp on Sunday this week.
The theatrics of decamping by the PDP in the state is as embarrassing as it brings to the fore the desperation by the party to impress its sponsors outside the state.
The other day, it was the story of thousands of people decamping from the APC to the PDP in Langtang South, Pankshin LGA and at a supposed grand rally in Jos to receive decampees, including the former APC Chairman in the state, Chief Letep Dabang who is now left a quandary and serious dilemma.
The well orchestrated news of APC followers decamping to the PDP in Mikang on Sunday is one propaganda taken taken too far.
What really took place in Tunkus that day was a comic show carefully planned by a former Chairman of Mikang Local Government Council who wanted to outsmart other PDP stakeholders in the state, including a former Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly in the sharing of booty from the governor of Rivers State, His Nyesom Wike.
The former LGC Chairman who arranged the drama was jolted when he discovered around 2pm on the day set to receive the so-called decampees that the event was collapsing on his head, hurriedly went to town and deceived some youths to go to the stadium in Tunkus under the pretext of giving them financial assistance from an empowerment organisation.
On getting to the stadium, they discovered that they had been deceived by the former Chairman.
The APC has it on good authority that his action has led to a silent war between him and key stakeholders of the PDP in the local goverment who all boycotted the event.
What the PDP described as a harvest of big catch into its fold was, indeed, a non event given the high display of deceit that took place.
The persons described as political heavyweights who were received were in reality some inconsequential individuals who were just elevated in the social media to deceive the public.
Furthermore, these decampees are the same faces who are being recycled in all the decamping charade by the PDP in the state.
For instance, Hon. Barry Tiss who was paraded as the leader of the decampees from Garkawa District was a partime Councillor in the local goverment while Nantok Swadet who is the leader of the decampees from Tehl District is the leader of Hunters Association in Mikang Local Government Area.
Stephen Golna’an who was elevated as the leader from Piapung District was a Personal Assistant to the former Leader of the Legislative Arm of Mikang Local Government Area.
More curious is Joseph Dalok who was carefully selected from Keoneom District.
He is a cousin to Chief Letep Dabang, the former Chairman of the APC in Plateau.
The PDP as part of its grand deception keeps on deceiving the public and INEC that it has abided by the court decision to dissolve its state exco with the party being ran by Hon. Theophilus Dakashang, the PDP North Central Zonal Chairman in Lafia.
Why then was it Hon. Simon Domle, the party’s former Zonal Chairman, Southern Senatorial District that received the purported decampees on behalf of the Court deposed Chairman, Hon. Chris Hassan with the sacked Publicity Secretary, John Akans still signing its press releases?
The APC is watching keenly as time shall tell wether the PDP has learnt any lesson from its exclusion from the last Local government election in the state last year.
The high point of the decamping melodrama in Mikang was the crowd renting competition that took place.
While the PDP Southern Senatorial District candidate for the 2023 election, Air Vice Martial Napoleon Bali came in with 20 truck loads of PDP supporters who formed part of the alleged hundreds of APC decampees to the PDP in Mikang, Isaac Kwallu the sacked former Chairman of Qua’an Pan Local Government Area came in with 10 truck load of PDP supporters.
To add to the scanty crowd of less than 50 people at the stadium were the ones rented by the PDP House of Assembly candidate from Shendam who came in with gullible youth in another 10 trucks. This is in addition to the ones who came in company of the sacked former Vice Chairman, Hon. Simon Domle.
The whole thing is that the arrangee decamping event in Mikang was misadventure which has left the PDP in that Local Government Area more divided.
The APC in the state is unperturbed by these orchestrated decamping antics by the PDP.
The party’s umbrella remains in tatters and is thus not capable of providing shelter to itself not to talk of our members moving into its fold
Signed:
Hon. Sylvanus Namang,
APC State Publicity Secretary
Kwararafa Reporters 