By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
The governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), in the 2023 election in Plateau state, Nentawe Yilwatda, has blasted politicians for taking advantage of religion to achieve their political gains in the state.
He lamented that it has become a norm for politicians in the state to negatively and most times erroneously associate one with a particular religion in order to secure political advantage.
The governorship candidate disclosed this in Jos, while regarding the outcome of the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed the election of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, and the campaign of calumny against him during the 2023 general elections on Wednesday.
He wondered the tactics of attaching him and his party as representative of Islam was deliberate by politicians to de-market him and his party, pointing out that using Islam against him and his party was not the first of its kind in the history of politics in the state.
According to him, “In 1983, John Kadiya of ECWA Church, was tagged as the Muslim candidate on the Plateau when he contested against the late Solomon Lar. It is a well-known fact that John Kadiya was a communion member of ECWA Church, a member of ECWA Church and an elder in ECWA Church. But he was tagged as an Islamic leader. After the election was over, nobody again called him an Islamic leader.”
He also noted that in 1991, the same thing happened when Fidelis Tapgun was contesting against Bagudu Hirse, lamenting that Hirse was tagged as an Islamic candidate.
In 2003, he stated that David Jang was tagged as an Islamic candidate when he was in the ANPP, stressing that the same thing happened to Pauline Tallen in 2011 when she contested for the governorship.
He added that in 2015, the same thing happened to Simon Lalong and the same thing happened to him in 2023, saying that it is the normal culture of Plateau politics that some people must tag somebody to have an Islamic outlook just for political reasons.
Once politics is over, he explained that that person becomes a saint, observing that the politics of Plateau State carry the same pattern.
The funny aspect, according to him is that people are not wise enough to understand that some people are using politics to ensure that a good candidate doesn’t emerge, adding that they used religion as a basis for presenting their candidates to the public.
He said that he had accepts the Supreme Court’s judgment in good faith, describing it as the will of God.
