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 need 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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