Jang Replies Aliyu, Says Northern PDP Governors Didn’t Oppose Jonathan

Former Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang has reacted to the claim by the ex-governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu on why the north didn’t support the second term bid of the former President, Goodluck Jonathan.

Aliyu had on Friday, April 16, 2020, revealed that northern governors opposed Jonathan’s reelection because they felt their region would be in a disadvantaged position if Jonathan won the 2015 presidential election.

He also said Jonathan had an agreement with the northern governors that he won’t seek a second term, adding that north governors opposed him when he reneged on the agreement.

The ex-governor said this in a statement titled; ‘Why We Opposed Jonathan’s Second Term Bid –Babangida Aliyu.’

But Jonah Jang, who was governor of Plateau State at the time has countered the claims, saying there was no time northern governors “met, deliberated and decided not to support the re-election bid of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan.”

In a statement titled, ‘Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu Lied,’ signed by his Media Consultant, Clinton Garuba, Jang said, there was no basis for him “not to have supported Jonathan especially when the contest was against General Buhari.”

The statement reads, “The attention of the immediate past governor of Plateau State, Senator Dr. Jonah David Jang, has just been drawn to a statement credited to the past governor of Niger State, where he alleged that the then 19 states northern governors met, deliberated and all decided not to support the re-election of the then President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. We wish to state categorically that Senator Dr. Jonah Jang was not part of that meeting.

“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. 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.

“We view the statement of Dr. Aliyu as an attempt to drag the hard earn reputation of Jang into disrepute, having served Nigeria as a military officer, later a civilian Governor and Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and discharged his responsibilities without blemish.

“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.”