The Senatorial ambition of the former Deputy Governor of Plateau State and current Chairperson of the National AIDS Control Agency , Mrs Pauline Tallen has suffered a serious and embarrassing set back in her hometown of Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State as her visit to the headquarters of the Southern Senatorial Zone was greeted with placards carrying youths chanting their rejection of her Senatorial ambition. Some of the placards which carried inscriptions such as “we don’t want Senate, we want Governor “, “Pauline, you are a SPOILER” and “Pauline, go back to Abuja”
Mrs Pauline Tallen who was visiting Shendam which incidentally is the headquarters of Plateau State Southern Senatorial Zone received the greatest shocker of her life as thousands of youths including women turned out to register their rejection of her planned intention to contest for the Senatorial position in the Zone which according to them would jeopardize the gubernatorial chances of the incumbent Governor of Plateau State, Rt Hon Simon Bako Lalong who is from the same Local Government Area with her in the forth coming elections.
It will be recalled that Mrs Tallen who had earlier decamped from the PDP to the APC shortly before the 2015 Elections had rejected an Ambassadorial appointment from President Mohammadu Buhari citing the fact that she hails from the same Local Government Area with the Governor of Plateau State, Barr. Simon Bako Lalong and so it would not be fair to accept the position stating then that she wanted to respect the principle of justice and fairness as enshrined in the much respected zoning arrangement in Plateau State.
In her meeting with the Executive Council of the APC in Shendam, a visibly shaken Mrs Tallen Stated that her ambition to contest for the Senatorial position was at the instance of the United Nations Organization (UNO) which is desirous of encouraging women participation in politics.
Responding to her assertion, the APC Chairman Hon Auwal stated that while her right to contest for the position is guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he however questioned the rationale behind her ambition considering the fact that she had rejected an appointment in consideration of the fact that the incumbent Governor is from the same Local Government Area with her and who is also desirous of a re-election. He further stated that in consideration of fairness, Shendam LGA had earlier conceded the Senatorial slot to other LGAs that constitute the Senatorial Zone.
As she made her way out of the meeting, it took the combined efforts of several security agencies to whisk Mrs Tallen away as the irate crowd considered her Senatorial ambition a deliberate attempt to scuttle Governor Lalong’s second term bid.