Can Catholic priest help APC reclaim Benue State from PDP?

The catchphrase ‘Yes, Father’ has gained currency in Benue State as a Roman Catholic priest singled himself out to oust the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from power in the state.

Hyacinth Alia, 56, shed his mantle last year and emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

The PDP has ruled the North-central state since the return of democracy in 1999, except in 2015 when the incumbent governor, Samuel Ortom, was elected on the platform of the APC. But Mr. Ortom 2018 returned to PDP who had rejected the governorship ticket in 2015 and was re-elected on the party ticket.

Emmanuel Jime, a former member of the House of Representatives, flew the APC flag in 2019 but failed to reclaim the governorship seat for his party.

For the governorship poll on March 11, Mr. Alia locked horns with Titus Uba, the PDP flag bearer and current House Speaker.

Although there are other candidates like Herman Hembe (LP), Joseph Waya (APGA), Bem Angwe (NNPP) and James Mede (SDP), the political barometer shows the contest is between Messrs Alia and Uba.

The appearance of Alia and Uba

When Mr. Alia declared his partisan interest, in line with Canon law, the Catholic Church in Benue suspended him from his eucharistic duties.

But he soldiered on and won the APC ticket with the support of George Akume, a former governor and current minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs.

The appearance of Mr. Alia triggered a multiplicity of matches from other aspirants, including former Attorney General of the Federation, Michael Aondoakaa, veteran politician, Barnabas Gemade; and Terhemba Shija, professor. But the Supreme Court upheld the priest’s candidacy on February 17, clearing the way for participation in Saturday’s show.

Interestingly, Messrs Alia and Uba are from Vandeikya Local Government Area of ​​​​Benue North-east senatorial zone.

Unlike the APC flag bearer whose candidacy emerged through direct primaries, Mr. Uba’s candidacy is a product of the micro zoning arrangements within the PDP in the senatorial district of Zone A. The development pitted Mr. Uba against the state’s deputy governor, Benson Abounu, who hails from Benue South senatorial zone .

After Mr. Uba’s victory over Mr. Abounu, Mr. Ortom’s former chief of staff, Terwase Orbunde, defected to the APC. Another key contender for the PDP ticket, Dennis Ityavyar, a professor, resigned from his post as education commissioner. Mr. Ityavyar has been said to be Mr. Ortom’s preferred candidate.

PDP supporters say that Mr. Uba is Iyorchia Ayu, the National Chairmanship candidate of PDP.

Ortom-Ayu War

The battle that Governor Ortom had with Mr. Ayu had an impact on the outcome of the presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25 in the country. The PDP lost the presidential election and two senatorial seats to the APC.

The governor and the national leadership of the party are on the warpath following the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the presidential flag bearer. Mr. Ortom belongs to the group of five PDP dissident governors, the G5. They were shouting for Mr. Ayu to step down on the grounds that he and Atiku are from the northern region.

Mr. Ortom, who had declared his support for the Labor Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, lost his bid to represent the Benue North-west senatorial district.

Also, the former governor of the state, Gabriel Suswam, lost his re-election bid for the Benue North-East senatorial zone.

The height of the political disruption was the victory of the APC presidential standard-bearer and president-elect, Bola Tinubu, in Benue.

Some PDP supporters blamed the loss on Mr. Ortom’s conflict with Mr. Ayu. He is of the opinion that Mr. Suswam’s supporters will work against Mr. Uba’s interests at the polls.

Determinants in the polls

As Benue voters head to the polls, several issues will tug at their heartstrings as they go to the polls.

Irregular payment of civil servants’ salaries and massive pension arrears have marred Mr Ortom’s eight-year rule.

The near collapse of public primary and secondary education, especially in the country’s rural areas, and the displacement of Benue citizens from their ancestral homes, remain major issues during the election.

Nigerian-born US political science professor Pita Agbese believes that Mr. Ortom’s “bad leadership, … refusal to pay salaries and pensions, will undermine the candidate he chose.”

In a chat with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Agbese said the Ortom-led administration “doesn’t have any infrastructure development. The roads are badly damaged even though new roads have not been built. Schools are collapsing because many of them have leaking roofs and collapsed walls. There are no houses ill built anywhere in the country.

Mr Agbese, a fierce critic of Ortom’s government, said Mr Alia’s candidacy at the polls “is a complete rejection of everything Ortom is about.”

Gauging the political temperature in Benue, the university said the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections are pointers to Mr. Uba’s defeat at the polls.

He noted that the PDP lost two senatorial seats and 11 out of 12 seats in the House of Representatives to the APC indicating the defeat of Mr. Uba.

“The complete and utter rejection of PDP by Benue voters should worry Ortom and Uba.”

Since 2017, the sentiment of Fulani herders’ attacks on agrarian communities has dominated public discourse in Benue. This is a major campaign issue during the presidential election, as many displaced people live in poor conditions across the country.

“Ortom’s usual bogeyman, the Fulani terrorists, did not do magic for people four years ago,” Mr. Agbese said of the victory of the presidential election in Benue despite the anti-APC sentiments generally led by PDP supporters.

The organizational secretary of APC in Benue, James Ornguga, certainly agreed with Mr. Agbese that Mr. Alia and APC’s “chance at the polls is quite bright.”

Mr. Ornguga, a powerful APC mover in the state, insisted that the Catholic priest “manifests the desire for progress and development of the new Benue.”

He boasted about Mr. Alia’s popularity among sociopolitical and ethnic sections of the country. For him, Saturday’s election will be a celebration of democracy for the people of Benue who said that “good governance has been going on for almost eight years.

Mr. Ornguga said the APC governorship candidate would win the election.

However, the publicity secretary of the PDP in Benue, Bemgba Iortyom, insisted Mr. Uba was the candidate to beat.

Mr. Iortyom described the PDP gubernatorial candidate as a “tested and trusted” leader in the state with his position as Chairman of the State Council.

He declared “landmark achievements” for the Ortom administration “in the field of infrastructure and human resource development.”

He dismissed public criticism over the issue of salary and pension arrears, saying the problem was inherited from the Suswam regime.

In the build-up to the 2015 general election, Mr. Ortom as the candidate of the APC promised to rectify Mr. Suswam’s failure to pay workers’ salaries and pensions.

But later, Mr. Ortom was bitten by the unpaid salary bug, collecting several months of salary, especially for primary school teachers.

But another PDP mobiliser, John Ikwulono, said Mr Uba is welcome in Benue.

He threw away APC’s victory in the presidential election. Mr. Ikwulono, who is the deputy chairman of Agatu local government, said that the problem during the presidential election is different from the upcoming state election.

“The issue of insecurity, for example, dominated the presidential election because it is the sole duty of the federal government to protect lives and property, which the APC government has failed to do,” Mr Ikwulono said.

He said Mr. Uba holds the key to a greater Benue, expressing optimism for the success of the PDP there.

Saturday’s match could throw off two scenarios – APC’s 2015 victory and Benue’s 1992 governorship mandate.

Mr. Ortom’s populist campaign in 2015 saw him enter Government House, as the PDP fielded Terhemen Tarzoor (Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Namibia), as the party’s gubernatorial candidate despite his unpopularity.

Thirty years ago, Moses Adasu, a Roman Catholic priest, won the Benue gubernatorial election, but his reign was short-lived as he was sacked by Sani Abacha’s military junta in 1993.

For Saturday, March 11, it will be a test of the key word – Yes, Father – to translate the most votes for Mr. Alia to meet the urgent development needs or elect Mr. Uba, an engineer. for the social re-engineering of Benue.