Barr. Caleb Mutfwang.
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – There was jubilation in the camp of Barr. Caleb Mutfwang who is contesting the 2023 Governorship seat in Plateau State as he came top in a mini-contest organized to know the acceptability of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP gubernatorial aspirants from his home local government area, Mangu.
Barr. Mutfwang and a few others accepted to participate in the exercise while some other aspirants distanced themselves and the result saw him emerging first.
It would be recalled that the PDP Elders’ Forum in Mangu in preparation to ensure the local government brings out credible and acceptable persons among all its aspirants held the said contest on Tuesday to reduce the number of aspirants from 13 to three.
While some of the aspirants declined to participate in the process, a few others agreed to test their popularity in an exercise where over 100 ‘delegates’ voted.
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At the end of the exercise, Barr. Mutfwang scored 33 votes, Alex Ladan got 23 votes, Chief Satu Jatau and Jerry Gushop tied at 22 votes each while Hon. Aminu Jonathan got 10 votes.
Recall again that Mangu local government has two major tribes, the Mwaghavul and the Pyem, the PDP has an Elders’ Council which is an advisory body. The Council has elders Gabriel Din and David Daspan as leaders; it mandated Erasmus Cishak to conduct the mock primary to trim the number of aspirants so that only three would be presented to participate alongside other aspirants from other local government areas at the primary election.
The tie between Jatau and Gushop is being discussed to know how the issue would be resolved.
Though the elders only advise their advice if refused could mean they are being undermined by those aspirants who insist on participating in the May 21, 2022, primary election.
A pundit, Israel Bamshak noted that Mangu local government is blessed with credible personalities with the capacity to lead the State but “there is need for our house to be put in order, with a united front so that others would take us seriously and listen to what we have to say.”
With the outcome, supporters of Mutfwang are optimistic that other aspirants from the area would come around and support him to clinch the PDP ticket to fly the Party’s flag in the 2023 election.
