Benue guber: How Rev Fr Alia cruised to victory

By Uche Nnorom

The Benue Governorship election which result was declared on Monday March 20 by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was one of the most interesting in the country. For the first time since the inception of democracy, a winner emerged in the State even without election taking place in one local government area- Kwande. It could be recalled that election in the council was rescheduled for Tuesday March 21st, 2023 because of inadvertent mistake by the electoral umpire in deployment and distribution of electoral materials. INEC explained that it erroneously distributed materials meant for Kwande East Constituency to Kwande West and vice versa. Though, electoral materials for the Governorship election was not affected, the two had to hold simultaneously.
In declaring the results, the Commission stated explicitly that if the margin of lead by any of the candidate is above the total number of votes(172,000) expected from Kwande, they would go ahead and declare a winner.
This was the scenerio as the State Returning Officer Prof. Faruk Kuta relied on section 24 sub section 1 of the Electoral Act and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC guidelines and act in declaring Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner of the 2023 Governorship poll and returned him as Governor-elect for scoring majority of votes cast during the election.
It should be noted that Fr. Alia polled 473,933 votes in 17 local governemnt areas of the State to defeat his closest rival and Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP candidate, Titus Uba, who scored 223,913 while the Labor Party, LP candidate candidate Herman Hembe scored 41,881.
The local governments won by Fr. Alia included, Ado, Apa, Obi, Oju, Otukpo, Okpokwu, Ogbadibo, Ohimini, Gwest East, Ukum, Katsina-Ala, Vandeikya, Ushongo, Makurdi, Gboko, Tarka and Buruku while Uba managed to clinch 4 including Gwer-West, Logo, Agatu and Guma as Hembe won only his local government area of Konshisha.
Politics watchers say the just concluded elections have a semblance of the same scenerio that played out in 2015 in Benue. Recall that the then Governor, Gabriel Suswam, failed in his bid to win a senatorial seat and plant his preferred candiadte as successor. Governor Samuel Ortom was a beneficiary of the 2015 election owing to the rejection of the ruling party by the electorates in the state. The outgoing governor was earlier rejected by the PDP at the party primary even though he had served as National Auditor and later Minister for Trade and Investment in the Good luck Jonathan administration. He, however, found solace in the arms of former governor George Akume who adopted him as the opposition APC candidate against all odds, and ensured he emerged Governor of the State. The rest is now history as Ortom later dumped the party, alleging that he was given a red card by the powers that be. In spite of his switching from the APC to PDP, he was lucky to clinch a second term mandate.
For Fr. Alia, it was learnt that he had approached the PDP to fly their flag but was turned down. And yet again, Akume who is the incumbent Minister for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs picked and offered him the APC platform to actualize his ambition. Like Ortom, Alia also, enjoyed wide acceptability in the State. But the latter had to battled stiff resistance and opposition to his choice within the APC having to weather through litigations resulting from the party’s primary that had to be conducted three times on the orders of the courts.
The election witnessed a lot of intrigues both within and outside the party and the State. There were lots of cynicism and pessimism over its possible outcome, as tantrums were freely thrown around.
The ruling PDP in the state saw the not-too-impressive performance of the APC government at the centre as part of the baggage their Governorship candidate had to carry, and used it as a weapon of warfare against the party. Then, the issue of insecurity especially the unwanton, unprovoked killings and destruction of property as well as an alleged planned occupation of the State by herdsmen under the APC federal government was an albatross against the APC.
Abnitio, in indicating interest to contest and after resigning from the Catholic Church as a priest, Fr. Alia received a lot of fireworks and backlashes from the PDP camp. They hauled all manner of invectives on him, taunting him that he should face his pastoral calling and not delve into politics, even as they questioned his acclaimed healing powers. Alia was, however, underrated, though a political neophyte, throwing his hat into the ring for the first time.
At his emergence on the political scene , big wigs in the APC including the former Attorney-General.and Minister for Justice, Mike Aondoakaa, SAN; Chief (Sen.) Barnabas Gemade, a former Minister for Works and National Chairman of PDP and Terhemba Shija, a one time member of the House of Representatives and Commissioner for Information in the State were embittered and approached the court to have him disqualified. Their bitterness stemmed from the fact that, they had invested huge sums of money in the party only for a new entrant to be picked as the party’s flag bearer in addition to their rejection of the conduct of the primaries through direct method. These top personalities were even regarded as moles working for the PDP to scuttle and hurt the chances of the APC in winning the election. All pleas and interventions from several quarters both within and outside the State to make them rescind their decisions fell on deaf ears as they went the whole horde but eventually lost the bid to stop the priest.
Politics watchers also believed that the ruling PDP also had its share of misfortunes which arose from the conduct of its primary. Many members of the party believed that their candidate was literally imposed on them, and that It did not reflect the will and expectations of the party faithful. In fact, it took a lot of efforts in convincing those who also aspired to be candidate of the party in accepting Uba after their primary.
Aside from the hurdles arosing from the party primary, the division in party at the national level had its toll on the PDP abymal performace at the just concluded election in Benue. Governor Samuel Ortom was a pivotal and strategic member of the G-5 also known as the “Integriry Group” that insisted that the National Chairman of the Party Dr. Iyorchia Ayu whom had worked so hard to install, should resigned following Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as PDP Presidential candidate from the North. According to them, Ayu no longer had authority to remain as the PDP chairman sin e he’s also of northern stalk as Atiku especially for the purpose of regional balancing.
Govermor Ortom’s stand and firm support for the Labor Party, LP Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, caused a sharp division in the state chapter of the party as all the three senators Suswam, Abba Moro sand Orker Jev as well as several other top-notch members of the party disagreed with his new choice and clung to Atiku. As it is said, a divided house cannot stand and this may, no doubt, have contributed to PDP’s woefully performance in the Presidential election. All efforts the party made to amend their errors before the March 18th rescheduled Governorship polls, proved abortive.
Also, certain factors like non payment of salary arrears, pension and gratuities as well as the perceived infrastructural deficit in the state contributed significantly to PDP’s loss in the Governorshipelection.
For the Governor-elect, expectations are high and he seemed to have this burden. In his victory speech, Fr. Alia pledged to reset governance in the State.
He regretted that governance in the State has hit a historic low, stressing that his election is a mandate to reform and recalibrate governance in Benue.
While dedicating the victory to all Benue people especially those who had thirst for the dividends of democracy, Fr.Alia assured that by the victory, the liberation the people have all yearned for is at hand.
The clergy man promised that his administration will clear the backlog of arrears of salaries, and pensions and
gratuities, resettle IDPs to their ancestral homes, address persistent insecurity challenges and set the stage for a prosperous Benue.
“We need to set the foundations for a strong economy. And on top of that, we need to start building an economy of the future based on skills and talents, education and the application of technology; knowing that the forces of global competition and technology mean that we can only compete based on skills and talents. Let us unlock our wealth.
“Let us begin by embracing a new way of thinking and action – by cultivating a new ethos that expresses the best of us, that brings forth our better angels and not our best demons.
“The smallness of unending political recriminations and willful economic sabotage must give way to accommodation and the pursuit of loftier ideals.
“There is a lot we can achieve through consensus and synergy. Our points of difference cannot be greater than the things that unite us.
“Let us resolve, walk and work together as one people united by a common destiny.We, the people of Benue through this victory, have taken a new step in a new direction.
“We have voted to realize the vision of their founding fathers
– the vision of a peaceful and buoyant society where both indigene and settler, the rich and the not-so-rich will engage in the pursuit of happiness unhindered.
“We have voted to defeat the politics of backwardness, hate and division, in preference for a social contract that enhances our common brotherhood and adds value to lives.
“I recognize what an enormous privilege and honor it is to be trusted with the government of the State especially at this time and am deeply conscious of it. I would like to say that God does not call the qualified! He qualifies the called.
“Never in my life have I seen a people express their desires and wishes so passionately as I saw from you in this election.
“The volunteers who came together under various support groups; those who travelled to all nooks and crannies of our State to knock on doors; the poll watchers who stayed vigilant to ensure that our votes were counted; every one of you! You all are the true heroes of this victory, and your names will be written in gold in the annals of our State.
“It has been a remarkable and historic victory for our Party,the All Progressives Congress (APC). I am in no doubt at all about the enormity of the challenges that lie ahead and what this victory means in the face of these challenges.
“I take this opportunity to appreciate the Leader of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue state, Senator Dr.George Akume, who has remained strong like the Rock of Gibraltar and guided us along the path to this happy moment.
“I would like to congratulate my opponents from the other parties for making it an interesting contest. BUT the anxious period of politicking is over. Now is the time to unite and face the challenges of development.
“We need all hands, all good and ready hands, to be on deck. We need men and women whom the spoils of office cannot buy. We need all who believe that a new Benue is possible.
“And let the word go out to all the ends of the earth, that a people, through this election, have risen from the ashes of deprivation and depression and are marching in lockstep towards their rightful place in the hall of greatness”, Alia stated confidently.