The March 18 governorship election in Benue State may take a holistic departure from the previous gubernatorial polls in the state where candidates of the ruling party had an obvious edge over others.
This is not unconnected to the emergence of a suspended Roman Catholic Priest, Fr Hyacinth Alia of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Labour Party candidate, Herman Hembe.
The battle to succeed Governor Samuel Ortom who is expected to complete his second tenure in May 2023, took a new turn when Fr Alia of the Catholic Diocese of Gboko clinched the ticket of the APC on May 27, 2022.
While the PDP’s Uba continues to enjoy some privileges being the flagbearer of the state’s ruling party, Alia’s supporters have continued to grow across the 23 Local Government Areas of the state.
Similarly, the Obidient movement that shook the country during the just concluded presidential and National Assembly elections birthed by the emergence of Peter Obi as Labour Party presidential candidate, has also placed Hembe as third force in the race.
Fr Alia and the APC
APC has been a major force in Benue state over the years, having some political bigwigs like the former Governor and currently the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, George Akume, former lawmaker who represented the Benue North East constituency, Barnabas Gemade, among others.
The primary election that produced the suspended priest as the APC gubernatorial flagbearer was shrouded with controversies ranging from the choice of running mate to court cases by co-contestants.
Recall that contrary to the method of primary election adopted by the party in all the states, the Benue chapter of the ruling party had opted for direct primary for the election over fear of being hijacked by the highest bidders.
Newspot recalls that Professor Terhemba Shija who also battled for the ticket had sought redress in court alleging irregularities in the primary election that produced Alia.
The case which went up to the Supreme Court was, however, dismissed on February 16.
Justice John Inyang Okoro, who led a 5-man panel of Justices of the Apex Court in a brief ruling, dismissed the appeal.
Ternenge Henry, one of the staunch supporters of the APC candidate and a youth leader in Ugboko Local Government area of the state told our correspondent that Benue youths are ready to unseat the state’s ruling party via Alia.
According to him, the election has been tagged “healing mass” with the hope that the outcome of the poll would lead to a total rebirth in the leadership of the state.
“There is nothing that will stop Alia from winning this election. Despite all the court cases and allegations against him by the opposition, it is obvious that God has anointed him to save the state from the hands of our enemies who call themselves leaders.
“Election day is going to be a healing mass for the entire Benue. It will be a new dawn for the state. For the first time, we will have someone who has the interest of the people in mind,” he said.
Newspot reports that being a Catholic priest who has never married, one of the issues Alia may face if elected as Governor of the state is: who would occupy the office of the First Lady?
However, Alia may not be the first Catholic priest to get the state’s top job if elected on March 18.
Recall that Late Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu had served as governor of the state from January 2, 1992 to November 1993. He was unable to complete two years due to a military coup.
Uba and the PDP
The expectations of several Benue people, particularly the supporters of PDP were dashed when the current Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Terver Akase was asked by party stakeholders to step down for Uba over zoning.
Titus Uba who is currently serving as speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly clinched the party’s ticket on May 25, 2022.
Months after his emergence as the party’s candidate, Uba in November 2022, reportedly went down with an undisclosed ailment.
Although there were speculations that Uba was down with Cerebrovascular Accident also called stroke, the party said he only travelled on non-medical vacation.
But Gov Ortom who addressed the Benue PDP stakeholders meeting on December 20, at Government House Makurdi, however, said Uba was sick but was reciprocating.
Uba, who returned to the country after a long medical vacation, enjoyed acceptance from all parts of the state during the statewide campaign, apparently using the influence of the incumbent governor.
However, the outcome of the just concluded presidential election has instilled fear in the camp of the PDP.
Newspot recalls that Tinubu of APC won the election in the state after polling a total of 310,468 votes to defeat his closest contender, Peter Obi of Labour Party who garnered 308,372.
Atiku Abubakar, of the PDP came a distant third after polling 130,081 votes from the 23 LGs.
But speaking with Newspot, a chieftain of the party in Benue South, Mathias Adache expressed optimism that Uba would win the poll.
According to him, the party has the structure that would guarantee its victory come March 18.
“Election is not all about making noise on social media. Do you have the structure? PDP has done a great job over the years. It is about the grassroots not the social media stuff.
“How many Local Government areas are being controlled by these opposition parties that are making noise everywhere? Election is not what they think”, he said.
Hembe and the LP
Although the Labour Party recently gained popularity across the state, some of the party supporters known as Obidients have opted for the suspended priest.
Like Alia, Hembe has faced court cases over the process of election that produced him as the LP governorship candidate.
Newspot recalls that Engr. Ben Akaaka had dragged Hembe to a High Court in Makurdi seeking his disqualification as the governorship candidate of the party.
At the court, Akaaka had stated that Hembe participated in the APC primary election and sought that INEC be ordered to replace Hembe’s name with his, being the first runner-up in the party’s primary election which Hembe won.
But Justice Abdul Dogo dismissed the case stating that Hembe’s name was erroneously written in the APC primary election results since he had resigned membership of the party before the primary elections.
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