‘Northern governors didn’t work against Jonathan in 2015,’ Jang counters ex-gov Aliyu

Former governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, on Saturday dismissed insinuations that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors from the northern part of the country worked against ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

The ex-Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu, had in a statement titled: “Why We Opposed Jonathan’s Second Term Bid,” issued on Friday, said PDP governors worked against Jonathan because the ex-President reneged on a previous agreement that he should not seek a re-election.

However, in a statement signed by his Media Consultant, Clinton Garuba, the former Plateau governor said there was no iota of truth in the claim by his Niger State counterpart.

He stressed that there was no time the 19 northern governors “met, deliberated and decided not to support Jonathan’s re-election bid.

The statement read: “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.

READ ALSO: Ex-gov Aliyu admits northern PDP govs worked against Jonathan in 2015, explains why

“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 Gen. 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 Gen. Buhari.”

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