Mrs Paulen Tallen, Plateau State Deputy Governor and Labour Party  governorship candidate, has picked Mr. Pan Gyang as her running mate.

Gyang replaces Danladi Atu, who was initially announced as her running mate.

Mr. Sylvanus Namang, Plateau Labour Party Publicity Secretary, who confirmed Gyang’s nomination in Jos yesterday said Atu’s earlier nomination was done by “some mischief makers”.

He said: “The choice of Gyang was made after a thorough job by the Ndam Gambo-led screening panel, which found him qualified and worthy of the position to ensure success in the April polls.

“We did not want to rush the selection of Tallen’s running mate. That is why it took us this long to name somebody who is acceptable to all the stakeholders.”

Namang said some unknown persons had on Friday gone on air to announce Atu’s name, “which has caused us a lot of trouble.

“We believe Gyang is the right person to pair with Tallen in the struggle to take over Plateau from the PDP,” he added.

Some youths who were reportedly uncomfortable with LP’s replacement of Atu with Gyang, had earlier staged a protest at the party secretariat where the latter was being screened.

Gyang was allegedly “smuggled” out and screened at an unknown destination.

Mr Yohanna Davou, who led the protest, said they were against Gyang’s nomination because they could not trust him.

He alleged that Gyang disappointed his supporters in 2007 when he refused to go to court to challenge his victory on the platform of the defunct Action Congress (AC) against the election of Gov. Jonah Jang.

Reacting to the allegation, Namang insisted that Gyang was the most suitable and acceptable person to all members of LP, particularly the elders and stakeholders.

Atu, Gyang and Tallen were among the seven PDP aspirants who defected to LP to pursue their ambitions.