Minority tribes in the Plateau North senatorial zone have expressed misgivings that in spite of their contribution to the growth and development of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the zone, they were still being schemed out of things in the party.
The Plateau North senatorial district includes Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Jos East, Jos North, Jos South and Riyom Local Government Areas with minority tribes found in Bassa, Jos East, Jos North and the Ibaas and Ganawuri communities of Barkin Ladi and Riyom Local Government Areas respectively.
Most of the Berom tribe are found in Barkin Ladi, Jos South, Jos North and Riyom local government areas of the state.
The Plateau North Equity Project (PNEP), a pressure group, on Thursday, expressed the concerns of the minority tribes at a press briefing in the NUJ Press Centre, Jos.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Evangelist Arum Daniel Izang said minority tribes contributed a lot to the voting bloc in the zone, but were constantly marginalised in appointments and elective offices.
Izang said the minority tribes had been committed to fostering an equitable, fair and just balance of power across the six local government areas of the zone. But for too long leadership had been the monopoly of a single dominant tribe in Plateau North.
The group said APC “grew to become a formidable political force in Plateau State after the struggle to preserve the rotational governorship arrangement in 2015.
“Many people in Plateau State, especially the minority ethnic nationalities of Plateau North, saw the APC as a platform for equity, fairness, justice and inclusiveness.
“Despite the persistence of narratives that portray the APC as a “Janjaweed party”, and the difficulty in marketing the party’s policies and programmes, the minority ethnic nationalities of Plateau North remained loyal to the APC.
“The APC, on the other hand, got the unwavering support of the minority ethnic group in the zone, who kept their distance from the APC and have continued to do so.”
PNEP said the available records from the electoral umpire had consistently shown that “a significant proportion of the party’s electoral strength in Plateau North has come from the minority ethnic communities, yet political reward and key positions were often ceded to members of the demographically dominant community.”
They used the case of chairmanship position and the senatorial candidature for the 2027 election that naturally should have gone to the minority tribes but the dominant group got the positions.
As preparations for the 2027 general elections got underway, they feared the same scenario was about to be repeated.
The PNEP called for the political offices to be distributed equitably according to their contribution to the party.
