Thursday, January 24, 2013

Plateau lawmaker weeps over marginalisation of his constituency

THE deliberations over the 2013 appropriation budget by the Plateau State House of Assembly was temporarily disrupted, on Wednesday, when a member of the House representing Mangu West, Honourable Ladan Garkuwa  wept profusely over what he tagged as marginalisation of his constituency by administration of Governor Jonah Jang.
Honourable Garkuwa , who bursted into tears while contributing, during the plenary session on the 2013 Appropriation Bill, lamented that development in the state is skewed towards one direction since the inception of the administration and walked out of the chamber with tears cascading down his cheeks, while other members, mostly of Labour Party (LP) try to placate him.
Speaking with newsmen at the Assembly Complex, the aggrieved lawmaker said developmental projects in the state were concentrated only in the northern zone of the state  and  especially in Jos South Local Government  Area.  
Honourable Garkuwa, who threatened to sponsor impeachment motion against the governor, should the trend continuous stated that his constituents were not properly considered in the 2012 budget on infrastructural developments adding that the constituency was equally left out again in 2013 budget.
 “My people are being treated as if we are second class citizens, the governor only concentrated developing in  Plateau North where he hails from, at the detriment of other zones of the state; therefore, we feel cheated by this action, we will not take it anymore.” He said.
Responding to the emotional outburst of the lawmaker, the State Commissioner of Information, Pastor Abraham Yiljap charged Honourable Garkuwa to stop wiping sentiment against the government adding that in the projects approved the State Executive Council, Plateau Central where the lawmaker comes from has both educational and Health projects worth N2.7 billion.
The Commissioner further added that the State Executive Council has also approved  a road project in his local government worth N1 billion adding that most of the strategic appointments in the present administration are allotted to the Mangu local government.
He added that the  Northern zone which has the state capital will definitely have the lion share because of current urban renewal and the security projects going on.
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