Aliyu lied, not all Northern PDP governors worked against Jonathan, says Jang

FORMER Governor of Plateau State, Jona Jang has refuted the claim by a fellow ex-governor, Babangida Aliu, that all the northern People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governors worked against ex-president Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 elections.

Jang said he was not part of those who scuttled Jonathan’s re-election bid.

Aliyu had said yesterday that the PDP governors in northern states opposed Jonathan’s bid for a second term because he reneged on their agreement not to seek another tenure.

“Since this was against the grain of our earlier agreement in the party, and which we the governors in the north felt the North would have been shortchanged if Jonathan had succeeded, we rose stoutly to insist on the agreement we all had,” he had said.

“On that premise, we opposed Jonathan. But all along, Goodluck Jonathan had enjoyed every support from the governors in the north and the entire region.”

But reacting via Clinton Garuba, his spokesman, Jang, who was governing Plateau at the time, said he was not part of any meeting where the governors agreed to work against Jonathan.

Garuba made this known in a statement issued today, titled, ‘Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu lied’, he argued that he had supported Jonathan in 2015 “especially when his opponent was General Buhari.”

“For the avoidance of doubt, despite the perceived shortcomings of President Goodluck Jonathan, Senator Jonah believed that Jonathan was better equipped to rule Nigeria at the time, especially when his opponent was General Buhari,” the statement read.

“Jang did not hide his conviction concerning Buhari’s inabilities to resolve the Nation’s challenges and sensitivities of the issues at the moment. Unfortunately, Buhari won and we are all witnesses to the tales of woes.

“Senator Jang is not one who speaks from both sides of his mouth, rather he speaks and supports only what he believes, little wonder that Plateau was won by President Jonathan in the 2015 general elections, largely due to the hard work of the then governor.

“For emphasis sake, there was no basis for Dr. Jang not to have supported Dr. Jonathan especially when the contest was against General Buhari.”

Babangida Aliu, who was the governor of Niger State from 2007-2015, was recently suspended by the PDP in Chanchaga LGA in the state.

One of the reasons given for his suspension in a communiqué issued by the eight ward chairmen of the LG out of ten was that he “worked against the election success” of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.