•Defends Governor’s defection, says APC not Plateau’s enemy

The Plateau Initiative for Growth and Development (PIGD) has called on the elite class in Plateau State to take responsibility in explaining Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s development agenda and recent political realignment to people at the grassroots.

In a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Nengak David, the group said Governor Mutfwang remains firmly on course in his agenda to “ReBuild Plateau” by first stabilising security and then using peace as the foundation for agriculture, education, infrastructure, healthcare and economic renewal.

According to the group, it is unfair for political actors to reduce the governor’s decisions to partisan emotions when the larger picture is the survival, stability and progress of Plateau State.

“Governor Caleb Mutfwang has not lost focus. He is on course. His first duty is to secure Plateau, restore peace to troubled communities and then build an economy that can work for farmers, traders, students, workers, investors and ordinary families,” David said.

PIGD urged opinion leaders, traditional stakeholders, professionals, religious leaders, youth groups and community influencers to help deepen understanding among the grassroots rather than allow misinformation to dominate the public space.

“The elite class must not abandon the grassroots to rumours, bitterness and partisan propaganda. Those who understand the issues must explain clearly that the governor’s ReBuild Plateau agenda is about peace, development and the long-term interest of our people,” the statement added.

On Mutfwang’s defection to the All Progressives Congress, APC, the group said the decision was not an act of betrayal, but a strategic response to the internal wranglings in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which had made the platform increasingly uncertain for re-election.

“The governor did not leave the PDP because he no longer loved the people who supported him. He left because no serious leader will build the future of a state on a platform consumed by endless internal crisis,” David said.

PIGD also dismissed claims that the APC is a sectional party that does not mean well for Plateau people, describing such sentiments as ill-founded.

“It is wrong to present the APC as an enemy of Plateau. Governor Mutfwang loves Plateau too deeply to move the state into a political house that means harm to its people. His decision must be judged by its purpose, and that purpose is to protect Plateau’s future,” the group said.

PIGD insisted that what Plateau needs now is unity, patience and constructive engagement.

“This is not the time to inflame emotions. This is the time to support peace, development and the ReBuild Plateau project,” David added.