From Tongnaan Bawa Jos
The Plateau North Equity Project (PNEP) has called on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to urgently address what it described as the political marginalisation of minority ethnic groups in Plateau North ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The group also urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, APC National Chairman, and Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang to intervene in what it described as an emerging imbalance in the distribution of key political offices in the senatorial zone.
Speaking at a press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Jos on Tuesday, PNEP Spokes person for the group Song Muru said the group was seeking “equitable, fair and just distribution” of political offices among the six Local Government Areas that make up Plateau North.
PNEP comprises minority ethnic communities predominantly from Bassa, Jos East, Jos North, and the Ibaas and Ganawuri communities of Barkin Ladi and Riyom.
Muru alleged that key political positions had, over the years, remained concentrated in one numerically dominant community, leaving minority groups underrepresented.
“Our mandate is simple: no community should be perpetually enslaved to political exclusion. True democracy must be built on inclusion, balance and shared responsibility,” he said.
According to him, the group had previously engaged government stakeholders and members of the perceived dominant community before writing to Governor Mutfwang to seek his intervention in correcting what it considered a longstanding imbalance.
He said PNEP was particularly concerned that the Plateau North Senate seat had been occupied by members of the same dominant community for seven of the eight electoral cycles since 1999, with only the 2003–2007 term as an exception.
Muru also alleged that the same community currently controls two of the three House of Representatives seats in the zone, while the positions of Deputy Governor and APC State Chairman are also being aligned in a manner that, according to the group, further excludes minority communities.
“The political landscape has already been shaped up in a manner where the same advantaged community is strategically positioned to occupy the Deputy Governorship, the Senate seat, the State Party Chairmanship and two out of three House of Representatives seats under the APC banner, to the total exclusion of the minority tribes of the zone,” he said.
The group said it had appealed to the governor to critically review the Senate arrangement and reserve the position of Deputy Governor for minority communities in Plateau North, but claimed that its appeals had not yielded the desired outcome.
PNEP stressed that its position was not aimed at denying any individual or community the right to contest elective positions, but at ensuring that political parties use zoning and other opportunities to promote inclusion and balance.
It warned that failure to address the concerns could affect the APC’s fortunes in Plateau North and the wider state ahead of 2027.
The group said its members were “fully mobilized to explore viable democratic options” to end what it called “age-long marginalization,” while urging the APC leadership to act before the situation undermines the party’s unity and electoral strength.