The return of democratic rule in 1999 introduced a worrisome shift in the once accommodating political culture of Plateau State. In the Second Republic, though there were sharp differences between the NPN-led Federal Government under Chief John Jatau Kadiya and the NPP-led Plateau State Government under Chief Solomon Daushep Lar, the Walin Langtang, their rivalry was healthy and developmental.
Back then, competition was about impressing the people with visible achievements. Federal projects were sited on the Plateau to woo support for the NPN, while Chief Lar worked tirelessly to consolidate NPP control through grassroots empowerment and reforms. The people of Plateau benefited immensely because politics was about principles and service, not personalities and self-aggrandizement.
Since 1999, however, the narrative has been tragically reversed. Politics has been reduced to bitterness, rivalry, jealousy, and endless personal feuds. For over 25 years, actors have abandoned principle-driven competition for destructive partisan battles. I do not wish to bore my audience with the history of these personalities, but rather to focus on the current situation.
For the record, I supported and worked tirelessly for Professor Nentawe Yilwada, now APC National Chairman, in the 2023 elections, despite belonging to different parties. My political ideology has always been guided by principles, not blind loyalty. As Minister, I once disagreed with my boss, President Muhammadu Buhari, over the 2017 Anambra gubernatorial election. He supported the APC candidate, but I openly backed the APGA incumbent because of his achievements in security. APC lost, but I stood by my convictions. In 2019, I opposed Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s Muslim-Muslim ticket in Kaduna and instead supported PDP’s Hon. Isah Ashiru. These decisions reflected consistency in principle, not partisanship.
Today, on the Plateau, the unfolding contest between Governor Caleb Mutfwang and APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwada, risks plunging the state into yet another battlefield of bitterness. The best way to confront a non-performing governor is not through acrimony but through visible human and infrastructural development that can win the people’s confidence. This was the tested method of both Chief Lar and Chief Kadiya in the Second Republic.
Though I am in the opposition, my approach is to collaborate with Governor Mutfwang where necessary, offer constructive advice, and support initiatives that deliver dividends of democracy. At the same time, I will not fail to criticize constructively and hold him accountable to his promises in 2027. For now, unnecessary distractions and political rancor serve no useful purpose.
My appeal is simple: the APC National Chairman should redirect focus to competitive politics anchored on development, not the outdated culture of bitterness and personality feuds. Plateau deserves better.
I rest my case for now.
Solomon Selcap Dalung is a former Minister of Youth and Sports of Nigeria