By Kolade Adeyemi, JosThe All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday accused a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of seeking desperate measures to discredit Governor Lalong and the ruling party over the implementation of the new minimum wage in the State.State Secretary of the APC, Bashir Musa Sati, in a statement said the factional PDP sponsored a protest that criminally engaged in house-to-house harassment, intimidation and threatening of government officials and their families.He said the sponsored protesters were at the residence of the SSG, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftancy Affairs, Information and Communication and Head of Service, terrorising their innocent children, wives and nursing mothers, issuing threats.He said: Curiously, the protesters did not shut down any of the 17 Local Government Secretariats in the State where they are supposed to direct their grievances. Neither did they visit the residence of any Local Government Council Chairman in their headquarters or State capital.They were not even on strike, which is the widely known avenue for aggrieved workers to withdraw their services in protest. Now, what does the PDP factional spokesman (John Akans) take the people and government of Plateau State for' Does he think the public shares his opinion and actions'Now, who was providing the sumptuous meals, music, liquor and perhaps drugs to the protesters who were desperate in instigating another round of disturbance in the State which Governor Simon Bako Lalong refused to buy, Sati said.The PDP has been sulking ever since their attempt to disrupt the bye-election for the Plateau South Senatorial district failed woefully. That is why they have turned their gun powder on anything that looks like an achievement of the Lalong administration by adopting their worn out and unintelligent tactics of lies, mischief, propaganda, fact-twisting and crying more than the bereaved.The people of Plateau State are not fools and can no longer be taken for a ride by a party they rejected since 2015, which keeps using crude methods to return to relevance.The PDP knew they had no chance of winning the Southern Senatorial bye-election and resorted to unleashing their sponsored thugs who blocked strategic roads including those leading to the southern zone in the days leading to the elections.They blocked Anguldi in Bukuru, Mangu, Shendam, among others even on the eve of the elections. All the time, they were chanting war songs, harrasing innocent citizens, raining curses and insults at the APC and Governor Lalong with the hope that it will give them electoral victory.READ ALSO:Kwara APC crisis deepens as nine LG chairmen back BolarinwaThey failed woefully because the people of the southern zone did not buy their lies. Today, Prof. Nora Daduut is in the red chamber of the National Assembly as the peoples choice, Sati said.The APC said the Plateau governor did not ask the court to stop the agitation of Local Government employees for the minimum wage. Rather, it asked the court to order the employees to respect labour principles of negotiation, which he said, the workers did.He said: Local Government Autonomy is real in Plateau State. Governor Lalong has broken the jinx by doing what the PDP government in the State refused to do in 16 years. It is another goal for the silent achiever.Till date, Lalong remains a darling of workers because he has kept faith with their wages and entitlements. He cleared all the 8 months arrears, no work no pay and others left behind by the PDP.He is also paying pension and gratuity which the PDP never contemplated even in the time of abundance. He has promoted thousands of civil servants with some getting promotions four times which were all denied during the PDP era.He re-engaged about 2,500 primary school teachers sacked by the PDP. Similarly, he re-engaged 100 PRTV staff that were sacked by the government of the PDP. Factional spokesman, please keep off this area because the Lalong APC Rescue Mission has demystified your partys incompetence and wickedness in this area.
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