Allow Idoma to govern Benue state, group pleads

By Albert Akota

As ethnic groups continue to lay claim to their rights to produce the next governor of Benue State in 2015, a group under the auspices of Conference of Minority Tribes in Nigeria (CMTN), has said the Idoma speaking tribe should be given the mantle of leadership in the state.

The national Coordinator of the group, Comrade Okpkwu Ogenyi, who said this at a press conference in Abuja yesterday said that it is high time the Idomas are given the chance to also serve the people of Benue as governor.

“It could be recalled that since the creation of Benue state, no Idoma man or woman has been the governor of the state.

“We have been governors during the military era in various states as military administrators which suggests that the Idoma is capable of leading the state.

“It is also a known facts today that His Excellency, Governor Gabriel Suswam is a front runner in championing the cause of the minority tribes at the national level, we want him as a gentleman to also replicate that in Benue state, “ he said.

According to Ogenyi, the minority case in Benue is a serious issue that must be addressed.

“It is on record that from 1999 – 2007, the current Minority Leader in the Senate was the former governor of Benue state from Zone B who in May, 29, 2007 handed over power to Gabriel Suswam who is from zone A.

“Ideologically, the next governor should come from the southern senatorial district of Benue state which is zone C, “he noted.

Ogenyi further added “We are calling on stakeholders to look into the situation of the southern people of Benue and give them a chance to govern the state also as indigenes and good people of the state to contribute to the state by delivering the evident of democracy.”