The Taraba Mandate Group (TMG)has slammed the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), John Oyegun, over comments it termed as unsavoury and unwarranted .

TMG is peeved that Oyegun in a recent CHANNELS TV interview said the APC has lost Taraba state along side others to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Oyegun was lamenting the loss of the APC at the courts in the flurry of recent verdicts that saw the opposition losing some states.

But reacting, TMG in a press statement signed by its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Gani Bako, said Oyegun was engaging in deceit.

The statement reads in part “how can he (Oyegun) say APC lost Taraba when the APC never got the state in the first place? Oyegun is giving the impression the APC even had a good showing in Taraba at the polls or even won but nothing could be farther from the reality.

“Yes, APC lost Taraba but not in the way Oyegun is saying it. APC lost because it was never on ground in Taraba in the first place and the party’s governorship ambition came in dead on arrival. APC had no structure or support base to win any major poll. Apart from a sprinkling of dubious wins here and there, the APC found itself in the swamp of the PDP and suffered a defining defeat.”

The group added that Taraba has continued to remain a PDP state throughout its association with the former ruling party. It said “any cursory look at the state showed that historically, culturally and by sociological inclination, Taraba is PDP. And our commitment to the party is not like a case of fair weather friends. We can’t stop being PDP now because of some spurious wind of change. So APC claiming to lose the state in the way Oyegun puts it is deception. You don’t lose what you don’t have in the first place. Oyegun shouldn’t have added Taraba state to his list. APC, we repeat did not win, couldn’t have won Taraba in any major polls. At the governorship election, we can grudgingly concede that it did well in four or five local governments areas which are traditionally opposition sites in the state. But beyond that, PDP did tremendously well in all the other eleven local government areas. In fact, today, both at the state and national assemblies, PDP has produced a majority of members. Oyegun should therefore not soap over anybody with his old man’s crocodile tears.”

The group also lambasted those calling on the Supreme Court to handover the governorship to APC, noting that they want to stage a civilian coup in Taraba state. “We were bemused by a recent call by one Lagos based, cash and carry, NGO, that said the Supreme court should just dash the APC the governorship in our state. Well, the NGO, must justify the monies paid to it. But we can’t understand that type of desperation. The NGO almost insulted their Lordships, the justices of the Supreme Court, accusing them of passing fake verdicts. The NGO then sternly “warned” their Lordship to ensure they dash Taraba to APC.

“This is amazing. A matter before the highest court in the land and this funny group is asking it to just announce APC winner? In some places, this sort of outburst by the APC sponsored NGO is enough to get the party sanctioned by the court because it is prejudice of the highest type. As for us, we wont arm twist and blackmail the Judiciary. The apex court in the land knows what it is doing and does not need any rebuke. Rather, we join the rest of the civilised world in congratulating the Judiciary for a job well done in restoring the stolen mandate of many voters in many states. The courts are indeed the last hope of the common man. “