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Fear, apprehension pervasive as Plateau goes to polls today

The atmosphere in Plateau State is charged as residents go to polls today in the first step in the series of elections to usher in the next democratic dispensation.

The National Assembly election is seen as a road map to the way the other elections will go.

In Jos, the state capital and its environs, the atmosphere is that of subdued fear and apprehension going by the volatile nature of the metropolis.

Indeed, the residents have been kept on their toes with one eye closed while asleep as they await what today will offer them.

True to their words, men of the Special Task Force have been deployed in all the nooks and crannies of the state, while a military helicopter hovers round the city.

Already, people have deserted areas described as volatile, while the Special Task Force has sealed all roads leading to the state from midnight on Friday. Motorists coming into Jos were seriously frisked for arms and other weapons.

Some of the candidates have been having last minute campaigns to persuade voters to vote for them.

In Plateau Central, the incumbent senator, Gyang Dantong of the Peoples Democratic Party may have a rough ride to victory as he meets a more determined opponent in Labour Party’s Lumumba Da Adeh.

The House of Representatives seat for the Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency is an open game between the PDP, Labour Party and the Congress for Progressive Change.

For Plateau Central, former Governor Joshua Dariye will slug it out with Mr. Dauda Gowon, a younger brother to a former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon.

He is also being confronted with an onslaught from a former Chairman, House Committee on Information, Mr. Gambo Nbilamut, who is contesting under the umbrella of the Action Congress of Nigeria.

For Plateau South, it is a war of the generals as former ECOMOG Commander, Senator John Shagaya of the LP, is having his position challenged by former FCT Minister, Gen. Jerry Useni, who is the Democratic Peoples Party’s candidate.

Meanwhile, LP has said that it has uncovered plans by the ruling party in the state to use security agents to disrupt the elections in any polling unit it discovers it’s not winning.

The state Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Sylvanus Namang, who alleged this on Thursday, said that the PDP was already strategising to rig despite its incumbency advantage.

He added that LP supporters were more in number and anybody thinking of rigging should desist as they would do everything to protect their victory in a peaceful manner.

He urged the perceived riggers to desist from such an act as it is not in the character of the Plateau people.

But debunking the claim, PDP, in a statement by the chairman, Media and Publicity Committee of Jang campaign organisation, Mr. Jonathan Ishaku, described the accusation as “wild and reckless.”

He said that the wild aspersion cast on security agents and the PDP by LP indicated the desperation for power by the LP.

Ishaku said that the Jang campaign team had restrained itself to orderly and peaceful campaign devoid of intemperate and abusive languages and wondered why the LP should resort to mudslinging in its desire for power.

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