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By Mark Longyen
Rep. John Dafaan, Member, House of Representatives (APC-Plateau; Mikang, Shendam, Quaan-Pan Constituency), says the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau has learnt from the mistakes that led to its defeat in 2023.
Dafaan, a former Chief of Staff to the immediate past Governor of Plateau and Senator representing Plateau South, Simon Lalong, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said that the lessons learnt would help the party to bounce back in 2027.
According to him, it is the scorecards of APC members from Plateau, who are currently holding political offices at various levels, that will determine the party’s chances of dislodging the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“In retrospect, I think we have learnt our lessons from the errors and the mistakes that culminated in the APC’s defeat to PDP in 2023 in Plateau.
“Our scorecards should be able to speak for us in 2027, depending on how we deliver from now to 2027, we will make the difference and bounce back.
“Let the PDP lay its scorecard. We will also lay our own scorecards. And that is what will speak for us,” he said.
He, however, said that leaders of the APC were in the arena of governance and busy delivering dividends of democracy to the people, hence, 2027 should not be viewed as the ultimate goal.
Dafaan, who was declared the winner of the 2023 constituency election after the Court of Appeal sacked its erstwhile PDP occupant, said that he won in the eyes of the Law and by God’s grace.
He urged his opponents and those aggrieved by the outcome of the contest to accept it in good faith and join hands with him to deliver the dividends of democracy to the electorate.
“So, people should live with it and accept the fact that this is God’s will. And, once you accept it, you will live in peace. I am a man of faith.
“The law has spoken. I do not have any argument about that. All I know is that this is my time!
“At the high court and at the tribunal, when the judgement was against me, I just went to appeal. And the grace of God spoke for me.
“God has destined that I will lose six months and collect the rest,” he said.
Dafaan described his experience in the last one and a half years in the National Assembly as exciting, challenging and tedious, adding that the job is “not a walk in the park”
“The most exciting thing about being in the National Assembly is that it gives you a broader perspective of how your people can be better empowered.
“The challenge is that, despite the fact that there are opportunities for our people to be better, the constraints in governance make it difficult to translate these basic things to fruition.
“This is because we only legislate and lobby as legislators. The real action is done by the executive. But the role of the legislature is now assumed to be an executive role,” he said.
The lawmaker said that, in spite of the challenges he faced, he had been able to “weather the storm” and is delivering dividends of democracy to his constituents.
He said that he had been able to provide potable water to his people by drilling about 18 boreholes across the three local government areas that make up the constituency.
Dafaan said that because his constituents are basically agrarian by tradition, he distributed two trailers of chemical fertiliser across the entire constituency in 2024.
He said that he also built, equipped and electrified the Community Secondary School in Baap(Quaan-Pan LG); would soon complete an inherited one in Demshin(Shendam LG); and also trained some youths on ICT.
He said that he had lit up most of the constituency’s communities with solar panels, while efforts are underway to link Mikang and Quaan-Pan LGs to the national grid.
“I intend that we should be able to put the two LGAs on the national grid, but for the time being, we are trying to give them solar light.
“We have also empowered some people, who have now opened business centres within the three LGAs.
“We are also working on having an ICT centre that will be like the training hall for all those interested,” he said.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman
