Who will be Plateau State’s next governor?

The interest in who succeeds Governor Jang is very high for two reasons; the excellent performance of the governor, especially in terms of road construction and agriculture is a legacy that many residents want to see sustained and even exceeded.The second reason is that by the time Governor Jang completes his tenure in 2015; all […]

The interest in who succeeds Governor Jang is very high for two reasons; the excellent performance of the governor, especially in terms of road construction and agriculture is a legacy that many residents want to see sustained and even exceeded.
The second reason is that by the time Governor Jang completes his tenure in 2015; all the three senatorial zones would have taken their turn at governing the State so another round of rotation is inevitable.
Like many states with multicultural and ethnic diversity, who becomes the next governor is a delicate issue, more so when the ethnic composition of the state is such that no one group can dictate who the governor would be.
Despite the huge curiosity, it is surprising that the political temperature in the state is tranquil, with no heated debates or groundswell of activities typical of gubernatorial election. There are no posters of prospective candidates littering the streets, no billboards and no campaign vehicles crisscrossing the State as it were in other States.
This is in sharp contrast to neighbouring Nasarawa State, where large number of campaign posters on billboards, public buildings, lampposts and even trees, not only signify the level of competitiveness in the gubernatorial race, but tells you the magnitude of interested candidates.
The low level of campaign activities and lack of visible politicking has nothing to do with the fact that INEC has not blown the whistle, it may rather be due to  rumours making rounds in that the Governor has not yet “decided”  from which zone the next governor will come.
Despite this serene atmosphere, I have learnt that a number of persons have begun underground campaigns for the coveted office.
From the southern zone of the State, there is Ambassador Fidelis Tapgun whose tenure as Governor was truncated by the Sani Abacha coup in 1993. He later bounced back as Minister for Industries after heading the Olusegun Obasanjo re-election campaign in 2003.
There is also Engineer Jimmy Cheto, who has twice contested the governorship at the primaries level. He once headed one of the Directorates at the FCDA Abuja after being chief executive of the state’s Water Board.
Senator Victor Lar, who had served in the lower chamber of the National Assembly before his election to to the Senate in 2011, is equally in the race.
It is also rumoured that the present Deputy Governor, Mr Ignatius Longjang who once served as Chief of Staff to Governor Jang is in the race.
Gen John Shagaya, a former Minister for Interior under General Babangida, who later became a Senator in 2003 is also said be nursing the ambition of occupying Government House.
Other names from the Southern Zone include Arc John Alkali, a retired Federal Permanent Secretary and Mr Goddy Miri, pioneer Chief Executive of the Abuja Investment Company and former INEC Commissioner.
Rounding the list of possible candidates from the South is Professor Longmas Wapmuk, a one-time Permanent Secretary in the State public service and the immediate past Director General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF).
In the central zone, Professor Sony Tyoden, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos is said to be in the race, together with Mr Hezekiah Dimka, one-time Commissioner of Police in Delta State and Dr Haruna Dabin, whose rumoured desire to contest the governorship race is said to be the root cause of the present impasse in the State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Although Governor Jang is from the northern zone and most people expect that the Northern zone will yield to other zones in line with zoning principle, rumours have it that Mr Chris Bature, who recently retired from the Federal Airports Authority is nursing the ambition of being the next governor of the State.
There is nothing wrong for anyone to aspire for the office of the governor; but the populace deserves to know early enough, specifically the vision of each candidate – and how they intend to run the State. We need to know their plans for Plateau State, especially how they intend to enshrine permanent peace and drive economic development. Enough of clandestine and underground politicking!!
Furthermore, I personally believe in the principle of zoning for the sake of fairness. It was this principle that made the two major parties to settle for northern candidates in 2007 after Joshua Dariye completed his tenure (Jonah Jang in PDP and PD Gyang in ACN). In my opinion, the fact that Governor Jang comes from the northern zone presupposes that the next governor should naturally come from the southern zone which last produced a governor in 1993.
But having said that, I expect that whoever wants to be the next governor must be someone that can consolidate on the huge developmental gains made by Governor Jang especially infrastructure and agricultural development.  
He must also have a strong appetite for peace making and reconciliation. That we are enjoying relative peace in the State now should not be taken for granted. Whoever wants to be the next governor must be someone committed to finding solutions to our underlying communal crises.  
I expect that whoever wants to be governor must be business-friendly, committed to improving the business environment and building strong partnerships with the private sector and international organisations to attract investments that will create jobs and wealth, thereby attacking poverty.

Gomos, OFR, a former Secretary to the Plateau State Government, wrote from Jos.