By EMMANUEL AZIKEN, Political Editor
LAGOS—THE immediate past deputy governor of Plateau State, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, weekend, scoffed at Governor Jonah Jang’s call on her to apologise to him.

Tallen, in a telephone interview, accused Gov. Jang of using and dumping his supporters, and cited  the immediate past Speaker of the Plateau House of Assembly, Mr. Istifanus Mwansat, whom she said  Jang relied on to acquire power but subsequently ditched.

Tallen, who contested the gubernatorial election with Jang last April, accused the governor of impeding the payment of her entitlements including rent and furniture allowances.

She spoke following Jang’s visit to Shendam, Mrs. Tallen’s home base, weekend, during which he called on her to apologise to him.

“It makes me laugh, the story makes me laugh. In the first place, it takes two to quarrel. He is quarrelling with himself, I am not quarrelling with him and secondly, I have forgiven him and for him to say that I should ask for his forgiveness, he is trying to play God,” Mrs. Tallen said.

Asked whether she may have unknowingly wronged her erstwhile boss, she said:

“Not at all, not at all and because I have prayed and handed it over to God, I don’t feel hurt, but I am confident that God will vindicate me for all he has done. I have forgiven him and I don’t wish him anything bad.”

“If he says that I should apologise, let him say what I did to him. Nigerians will like to know where I have wronged him that he is demanding my apology, he should tell you where I have wronged him that is number one.

Number two, I don”t even feel hurt with him. For all that he has done to me, I have handed him, over the matter, to God.

God sees every heart and will vindicate the just. Time will tell. He is saying that I have disgraced myself, let”s wait and see who God will disgrace because I have handed the matter to God,” she said.

Noting the denial of her rights in office as deputy Governor between 2007 and 2011, she said:

“He has denied me my rights and privileges. Are you aware that he stayed in my official residence and that since I was sworn in (as deputy Governor in 2007) I never stayed in Government House. Is there any deputy Governor that was so badly treated? Go to Jos and find out.”

Noting what she described as another injury to the immediate past Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Istifanus Mwansat, she said:

“ I promised that I will not talk much but reach out and talk to the former Speaker, the immediate past Speaker who stood by him. Istafanus Mwansat is his name. This (Jang) is a man who uses people and dumps them. Just the way he lured me to bring him into Government House in 2007 that is exactly what he has done, he has used the Speaker to return to Government……but then I want you to know very well that he did not win this election and it is a matter of time God will vindicate everybody.””
““For you to know how ungrateful he is, just the way he used me to come to power in 2007, he has used the Speaker who stood by him in his most trying moments and immediately he rigged the election and got himself back there, all the members of PDP that stood by him he made sure that none of them got principal office position,”” she said.
A senior official of the Plateau State government, reached at the weekend to react to the assertions declined.