The governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang has dismissed claims that he promised to share government positions on a 60:40 basis with former Governor Simon Lalong’s legacy group before joining the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Naija News reports that Lalong is the leader of the APC Legacy group in the state.
The Legacy Group which comprises of members loyal to the former governor, was named while he was in office.
After Governor Mutfwang’s defection to the APC, there have been discussions in some quarters that one of the conditions given to him to join the party was to give 40% of government positions to the Legacy Group.
However speaking during the swearing-in of three commissioners on Thursday, the governor denied making such promises.
He said, “To correct some rumors that have been going, the APC chairman is here, I never made any promise to share government positions since my journey to APC. I made a commitment to share party positions. I never had an agreement to do a 60%-40% cabinet.”
The governor, however, noted that even after he joined APC, those who enjoyed the party are significantly more from the Legacy Group than those who defected with him.
“It would not be out of place here that almost 80% of those who are in APC EXCO today are people we met in APC. As I am talking to you today, out of the 24 emerged as APC candidates , 16 are APC legacy members. Only 8 who crossed with me became candidates for the House of Assembly. Are we fair?” the governor asked.
“The time has come when we must kill the dichotomy between the government group and the Legacy Group. We are one big family. We have people who have been in APC but we bring them into government because we believe they have something to offer not because they are APC members,” the governor added.
