The Plateau Initiative for Growth and Development (PIGD) has challenged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Chief Kefas Kefiano, to present a detailed development agenda instead of basing his campaign on a pledge to serve only one term.
The group said the pledge raises questions about Kefiano’s priorities and the campaign strategy built around political zoning.
In a statement on Monday, PIGD National Coordinator, Nengak David, said Plateau State voters deserve to know how the PDP candidate planned to tackle insecurity, unemployment, poor infrastructure, agriculture, education and healthcare if elected.
“The people need to hear what Chief Kefiano will do with power, not merely how long he says he will hold it,” David said.
“A one-term pledge cannot substitute for a practical programme showing how the state will be governed and developed.”
The group urged Kefiano to outline specific policies, implementation timelines and measurable targets that would enable voters to assess his competence and character beyond ethnic or zonal sentiments.
PIGD also questioned why voters should accept the one-term pledge without scrutiny, drawing comparisons with Kefiano’s career as a businessman.
“Chief Kefiano is a businessman who has never publicly declared that he intends to stop making money,” the group said.
“Why, then, should Plateau citizens simply believe that a politician who wins power will willingly surrender it after one term? Such a promise requires more than words; it requires convincing guarantees and demonstrable sincerity.”
The organisation said its intervention was not targeted at Kefiano or the PDP alone, but was directed at all political parties and governorship candidates in the state.
“We call on politicians, irrespective of party affiliation, to speak honestly to the people,” David said.
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“Campaigns must be driven by truth, realistic promises and a genuine commitment to service. Plateau has suffered enough from convenient declarations that disappear once elections are over.”
PIGD urged residents to scrutinise campaign promises and demand issue-based engagements from candidates ahead of the election.
The group said voters should demand clear explanations of what candidates intend to do, how they plan to achieve their objectives and mechanisms through which elected officials would be held accountable.
“Democracy becomes stronger when citizens refuse to be carried away by sentiment,” it said.
“Every candidate must tell Plateau people what will be done, how it will be done and how the public can hold the government accountable.”
