2015: Coalition cautions Redemption Integrity Group

Plateau Democratic Transparency Coalition, a political pressure group, has challenged another socio-political lobby group over its recent remarks about the 2015 governorship seat in Plateau, advising it to “avoid overheating the polity.”

In a statement issued by its state co-coordinator, Steve Bond, in Jos, the body in repudiating the zoning claims earlier canvassed by the Redemption Integrity Group, said zoning had never been the factor in determining “who becomes the governor of Plateau state.”
It said: “As a matter of fact looking down memory lane, the set precedent is glaring that governorship has never been zoned to a particular section right from the Second Republic when Chief S. D. Lar was elected governor.”

Denouncing the zoning issue further, the group referred to the opportunities offered by the various political parties, pointing out that “moreover, the electoral process allows the candidates with interest to emerge from their various parties’ vigorous internal party mechanism.”
It added that “this is the spirit that drives democracy where merit is allowed to excel.”
The statement warned that “any call on the governor to exclude the Northern zone from contesting the governorship is a clear departure from the past, and is tantamount to infringing on the fundamental rights of the zone and its people.”