A Mandate for Trade: Plateau State and the Heritage of Political Integrity

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Plateau State stands today at a solemn crossroads of its political history. It’s not merely a political junction, but a moral and constitutional one from immemorial times. Historically, Plateau State is a place where faith, sacrifice, and national conscience have long intersected but now faces a question more troubling than insecurity itself: does political power still respect mandate, law, and conscience?

Plateau is peculiar and unique, and, not just another state in the Nigerian federation. It has become, by convention of history and blood, a symbol of the cost of faith, a land many regard as bearing a disproportionate share of the Nigeria’s cross. Such a place deserves leadership anchored in statesmanship, not political survival; courage, not calculation; integrity, not expediency.
Yet, the rot of our political class has become difficult to ignore.

A governor elected on the platform of one party, enthroned by mercy represents the votes and hopes of the people to eternal glory; but, ironically, he now chooses to abdicate in order to preside under the banner of another party—not by fresh mandate, but by political horse trading in pursuit of an elusive pot of porridge by maneuvers. This is not merely a partisan concern. It is a fundamental breach of democratic ethics. Mandate is not a transferable property; it is a sacred trust and a bequeathal conferred by the people under clearly defined terms.

When a leader defects midstream without returning to the people for renewal of consent, democracy is weakened, not strengthened. The result is a dangerous irony: a hovering PDP mandate without a PDP government, and an APC-led government without an APC mandate pervades over the Plateau the beautiful with dire straits. Such an arrangement may be politically convenient, but it is constitutionally and morally hollow.

Statesmanship demands more than numerical advantage or elite negotiations. It demands fidelity to process, respect for institutions, and reverence for the supreme will of the people. A state governed without moral legitimacy may function administratively, but it cannot command deep trust, unity, or peace that encrusts a mandate, especially when such mandate is enthroned by mercy.

The actions surrounding the removal of elected local government officials, institutional heads, civil servants, and statutory officers further deepen public concern about the misuse of mandate against public good of the givers of such mandate. Governance, especially at subnational level, must operate within moral, legal and constitutional boundaries. Anything less erodes confidence and breeds cynicism among citizens already fatigued by insecurity and hardship.

The essence of a mandate places a heavy burden not only on political actors but also on institutional gatekeepers. The litmus test for defectors to APC lies in the public affirmation that party primaries must reflect the will of party members; the public awaits the credibility of this existential requirement that defectors will now be subjected to in the national interest. Will internal democracy be upheld, or will betrayal of mandate be rewarded? Democracy may be a game of numbers, but legitimacy is a matter of conscience and the ennobling principle.

More importantly, the defection litmus test calls the conscience of Plateau State itself into question.
Faith teaches that destiny operates at the intersection of divine favour and human responsibility. Jesus grew because favour with God was matched by favour with men. David emerged king not because he was politically positioned, but because divine purpose overruled human preference. Yet even David was eventually presented before the people.

The lesson is clear: divine purpose does not cancel process; it sanctifies it.

The Elders in Plateau State must therefore rise beyond partisan silence. Moral authority is not preserved by neutrality in the face of mandate tradings and dealings in hope. The question must be asked, respectfully but firmly: is one leader the only son/daughter? Is one path the only option? Like Samuel in the house of Jesse, the state must refuse to “sit down” until leadership aligned with conscience, competence, and mandate is found.
This is not a call for chaos. It is a call for integrity.

Plateau State urgently needs to embark on an intrinsic movement of Political Integrit—a non-violent, cross-party, value-informed civic awakening that insists on:
Respect for electoral mandate,
Adherence to constitutional and institutional processes,
Transparency in party primaries and governance.

Leadership that prioritizes protection, peace, and posterity over incumbency survival and political relevance.
The Integrity movement is akin to a Revival that includes all from clergy, laity, professionals as well as students, party members and independents. It must speak with one voice: power must submit to principle.

Deliverance, in political terms, does not come by slogans or defections. It comes when a people decide that the land deserves better, and when leaders remember that authority without legitimacy is a throne without foundation.
Plateau State must not sit nor stand still until the integrity of its Heritage is restored.

Citizen Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also President Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the C.E.O, Masterbuilder Communications.

Email:bolajiakinyemi66@gmail.com
Facebook:Bolaji Akinyemi.
X:Bolaji O Akinyemi
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Phone:+2348033041236

This post has already been read at least 111 times!