Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State has dismissed reports that he signed a 60-40 cabinet-sharing formula before defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
He insisted that no such agreement was reached between his administration and the APC hierarchy in the state.
The controversial agreement was raised by a group within the APC known as the “Legacy Group,” loyal to former Governor Simon Lalong, following a recent cabinet reshuffle carried out by Mutfwang.
The Legacy Group had condemned the cabinet reshuffle, which it said negated the terms of an agreement allegedly signed by the governor before he joined the APC.
The group had argued that under the terms of the agreement, its members should also have been included in the cabinet-sharing process.
However, while reacting to the alleged agreement, Mutfwang insisted that at no time did he enter into such an arrangement with the Lalong group, nor did he base his defection to the APC on the understanding that his cabinet appointments would be shared on such terms.
Mutfwang, who addressed what he described as a wild misconception during the swearing-in of three new commissioners on Friday at the Government House in Jos, denied ever promising to give 40 per cent of cabinet appointments to members of the Legacy Group.
“To correct some rumours that have been going around, the APC chairman is here; I never made any promise to share government positions since my journey to the APC. I made a commitment to share party positions. I never had an agreement to do a 60-40 per cent cabinet,” the governor said.
Mutfwang, however, noted that even after he joined the APC, those who had benefited most from appointments and party positions were members of the Legacy Group, even more than those who defected with him from the PDP.
He emphasised that 16 of the 24 APC House of Assembly candidates were members of the Legacy Group, while only eight joined the party alongside him from the PDP.
“The time has come when we must kill the dichotomy between the governance group and the Legacy Group. We are one big family.
“As I am talking to you today, out of the 24 members of the House of Assembly, 16 are APC Legacy members. Only eight who crossed with me became candidates for the House of Assembly. Are we fair?
“We have people who have been in the APC, but we bring them into government because we believe they have something to offer, not because they are APC members,” he added.
‘I didn’t sign 60-40 cabinet sharing deal with anyone’ – Gov Mutfwang