April 03, (THEWILL) – The Benue State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has narrowed the race for its 2023 governorship ticket to Vandeikya and Oturkpo Local Government Areas of the state.
At a special stakeholders meeting held at the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi, the party zoned the ticket in the Tiv-speaking areas to Vandaikya Local Government Area, having arrived at a consensus candidate in the Idoma-speaking areas in the person of the incumbent Deputy Governor of the state, Engr. Benson Abounu, from Oturkpo Local Government Area.
Discussion at the meeting took place in the presence of Governor Samuel Ortom, the National Chairman of the party, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, Senator Gabriel Suswam and Board of Trustees member, Chief Margaret Icheen, as well as some members of the House of Representatives.
A Special Ad-hoc Committee headed by the Deputy Chairman of the party in Benue, Isaac Mffo, received the mandate to deliberate on the zoning of the governorship ticket between the Kwande and Jechira intermediate areas, following which Jechira was favoured on grounds of equity, inclusiveness and fairness.
The committee was also mandated to deliberate on the zoning of the ticket between Vandeikya and Konshisha Local Government Areas comprising the Jechira bloc, following which Vandeikya got the nod for the same reasons of equity, inclusiveness and fairness earlier adduced in favour of Jechira against Kwande.
A statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Benue, Bemgba Iortyom, a copy of which was made available to THEWILL in Makurdi, explained that Thursday, April 7, 2022 was then chosen as the date for the adoption of a consensus candidate for the party’s governorship ticket in the Tiv-speaking areas.
“Governor Ortom expressed satisfaction with the process, stating that PDP in the state has opted for a pruning down of the number of aspirants in the race to avoid unnecessary expenditure on the aspirants while creating synergy within the party as it heads to the general elections next year,” the statement read, in part.
The statement also quotes the governor as commending the unity of purpose and peaceful interaction, which has been the hallmark of relations among the governorship aspirants on the platform of the party so far, even as he charged them to maintain their bond of unity in the pursuit of the larger objective of retaining the governorship and winning the presidency in 2023.
According to Mr Iortyom, the PDP National Chairman, Dr. Ayu, lauded the depth of quality among the pool of aspirants on the party’s platform, assuring them that he will use his good offices to grant them access to opportunities for participation in party assignments at the national level and guarantee their inclusion in government at the federal level.
In his speech, Senator Suswam enjoined aspirants to embrace the fact that only one among them would eventually emerge victorious, a victory, he stressed, that must be taken to be for all as one indivisible family.
The Chairman of the Forum of Benue PDP 2023 Governorship Aspirants, Barr Chille Igbawua, on behalf of the aspirants, pledged to accept and abide by the decisions taken by the leadership of the PDP as loyal party men who have placed the collective interest of the party above their individual ambitions.
Attendance at the meeting was drawn from membership of the Benue PDP State Working Committee and the party’s Local Government Area Chairmen, Local Government Council Chairmen on its platform, members of its Caucus in the State Assembly, top government functionaries as well as the G-14 group of elders.
Reacting to the development, the former Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ortom, Mr Terver Akase, said he had decided to submit to the decision of the party to zone the 2023 governorship position to the Vandeikya LGA.
Akase said the interest of the party was above any personal ambition and he pledged his unflinching loyalty to PDP.
He said he was ready to support whoever the PDP chose as its governorship candidate in the forthcoming election in the state and commended his teeming supporters across the state for the uncommon determination they have demonstrated towards his aspiration and urged them to accept the decision of the party in good faith.
