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2023 Benue Governorship: Sam Ode's Acceptability Widens As Zone C Search For Consensus Candidate

The 2023 governorship aspiration of Hon. Sam Ode, mni, former Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs received more credence during his consultation with critical stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Benue South Senatorial District, otherwise known as Zone C.

The historic event which held recently at the palatial residence of Alhaji Usman Abubakar, popularly known as Young Alhaji, in Otukpo, the traditional headquarters of Idoma nation, had in attendance elders, ward and local government EXCO members and other party faithfuls from all the nine local government areas in Zone C.

Speaking during the meeting, Senator Ameh Ebute,CON, former Senate President and APC elder from Zone C said the mission of the party elders at consultative meetings is to assess the qualities of aspirants from Benue South.

According to the former Senate President, the process is put in place to pick a candidate that commands broad acceptance of not only Zone C but the entire state to be the first Benue State governor of Idoma extraction.

"The fact that we have been attending meetings of people who want to come and govern us is not for nothing. We are here to assess their qualities. Of course, we know them; they are our children”, Ebute said, stressing that the elders or the party will not allow what happened in 2007 to happen again.

He further explained that the presentation of many candidates by Idoma nation ultimately led to the collective failure of Idoma aspiration.
According to Ebute, elders from Benue South have resolved to set up a Committee of Elders from each local government of the zone to examine the credentials of all the candidates vying to become the governor of Benue State from Zone C.

"The Elders are going to make their choice and bring it to you for approval. Because the whole multitude cannot arrive at a conclusion; there must be elders to take a decision. We are not going to allow all the people that have come out to express their interest in the governorship because in 2007, we presented five Idoma candidates and we failed; we are not going to do that this time around.

"I want you to show seriousness in wanting to become the governor of Benue State. That is, you should not oppose anybody who has been decided upon as the only candidate that is going to go for nomination in Makurdi. After we have taken the decision, all of you must support the candidate that will emerge from this Zone. Idomas cannot present five candidates if we are serious; unless if we do not want to become governor.

"Anybody who starts bickering after the choice, we will know that he is not interested in an Idoma man becoming governor. We are going to devise means of enforcing our decision; we are going to enforce decisions that we have taken and anybody who says he does not accept the decision is not a candidate on the platform of Zone C", Ebute stated.

After Senator Ameh Ebute's pronouncement on a consensus candidate for Zone C, speaker after speaker openly voiced their choice of Hon Sam Ode as the most qualified aspirant with state-wide acceptability.

In his words, Hon. Donald Agida, who spoke for Otukpo/Ohimini, adopted biblical and historical symbolism to pass across his message as he portrayed Sam Ode as the "Moses of Idoma land".

According to him, just as “the Israelites spent 40 years in Egypt, the Idomas have spent 45 years or more waiting to be elected governor of Benue State . ... remember that Moses was nurtured in the house of Pharaoh. Your mother is a Tiv woman, you are the Moses of Idoma land.
The Israelites celebrated 47 years of Jubilee; we have only two years to reach 47 years. So let us celebrate the Jubilee..."

Hon. Agida also appealed to the Tivs to extend their cultural practice of 'ya na angbian' to their Idoma brothers; a phrase which literally translated means: eat and give your brother”. Agida asks rhetorically: This ‘ya na angbian’ that you cannot eat and give us; are we just your neighbour or your brothers? I think we are all from Adam. So, we are brothers."

He concluded by saying that as a governorship aspirant with Idoma and Tiv parentage, Sam Ode has become a bridge that should end the political imbalance.

For Amb. Matthew Adoli who spoke on behalf of Ogbadibo/Okpokwu/Ado Federal Constituency, it was a diplomatic endorsement of Hon. Ode, though agreeing with the position of the Elders Committee as enunciated by Senator Ebute. Amb. Adoli spoke so glowingly of Ode's personality and qualities such that anyone listening will have no doubt on where his support lies for the choice of a Zone C consensus candidate.

"Like the stakeholder Senator Ameh Ebute has said, elders will meet to arrive at a candidate so that there will be no rowdiness, and no division of vote at the primaries. One thing is that Zone C should be determined to produce the next governor of Benue State. In our determination we should do it through dialogue, negotiations, compromises, give and take, and consensus building across board. And when I say across board, I mean in consultation with our brothers in Zones A and B.

“The person preferred as the governorship candidate must have good personal qualities. He must be acceptable across board; must have been tested and must be ready to mix with the high and the low", Adoli emphasised.

Referring to Sam Ode, he said: 'You are an achiever, you are a performer, you are a realist, you are young, you are dynamic, you are pushful and you are sensitive.

"When I was in Togo as Nigeria's Ambassador the young, dynamic, pushful candidate visited Lome three times within the framework of the rehabilitation of the Niger Delta militants in Togo. He succeeded in the exercise. And the host President asked me; 'Who is this your Minister? He is so young, dynamic and pushful'. I told him he is from my place; I felt very proud of him, and I'm still proud of you! I believe that if you are chosen as the governorship candidate, and eventually clinch the governorship seat, your performance will know no bounds”.

The renowned Diplomat however, cautioned against inflammatory and defamatory comments about Zones A and B because according to him, the two zones largely determine who wins the governorship seat.

He further said, "We are wooing them. We are not at war. I dont want anybody to think of forming any radical group or so called liberation group or any organization; that move will work against us. The person who will be governorship candidate will be somebody who is personally acceptable by the three zones.
This young, vibrant candidate we have here has the wherewithal, intellectual capacity and much more to deliver the goods. Well, I dont want to be too sentimental, because they are still going through a process. But I make bold to say that the title of His Excellency is already with you. What remains is the actualisation of the title. And we pray to God so that the mantle of leadership will fall on you", Amb. Adoli restated.

Also, in his short speech during the consultation, Prof John Enyi who spoke for the Igede nation said “Sam Ode, as far as I know is a philanthropist. He is somebody who gives until it is finished. That is his nature. As a Minister, he was able to do many things not only for Zone C but the whole of Benue State”.

Prof. Enyi went ahead to endorse the candidature of Hon. Sam Ode when he asserted: “there are many people who are jostling for this position but we have to give it to the best person; the best person that can sway the feeling of our brothers to our side. So this afternoon, I am here to say that Sam Ode is a very capable person; he is a very good person; a square peg in a square hole. He is a young man with energy. He is very outspoken, and he will not disappoint us anywhere. So I recommend him to the Igede people, to Zone C and the whole of Benue State”.

In the words of Prince Jacob Ajene, an APC Senatorial aspirant, Sam Ode is a product whose time has come. He said for Igede nation, Ode is both a friend and a brother - a leader in whom Benue can feel safe.

"Very importantly, you may have the best product for the market, but if the timing is not right that product will not sell. I stand here today to tell you that for our dear brother Sam Ode is the product whose time has come. I stand here to acknowledge our dear brother who needs no introduction; to us in the Igede nation, is a friend and a brother; to us in Idoma land, he is an Idomite to his tiniest blood. I stand here to celebrate and welcome a man that Benue State can feel safe in his hands - a man that is knowledgeable; a man that is capable; a man that is efficient; a man that is sagacious”, Prince Ajene said.

Hon. Prince Philip Agbese, who spoke on behalf of APC youth in Zone C, said Sam Ode epitomises what “President Muhammadu Buhari referred to as I belong to nobody and I belong to everybody". The House of Representative Hopeful said his choice of Ode is not dependent on hearsay but out of his personal experience of him and as such he could recommend his candidacy to Benue youth. "He is somebody that we the youth of Benue State, we have used and have tested. He is working!

Prince Agbese also offered words of encouragement to members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the meeting when he affirmed: "I want to say to the APC that today you have the best product. Make use of this product come 2023 because we believe that APC will make Benue great again and this is the person that Benue people have believed in."

Gen. Harrison Adoga rtd who spoke at the meeting on behalf of Otukpo people, extolled the good qualities of their son, Hon. Ode, and also appreciated the Zone C stakeholders for their favourable disposition towards the governorship aspiration of their son.

"We dont have much to say but to express our appreciation that our son that we are presenting to you today can gather this kind of acceptance. He is a trusted and tested individual. In all his life, this young man has sacrificed his life for people. This, our son, is somebody who can be accepted everywhere. We have many children but only one person can make it to the top. Among the many we have in Otukpo, we have decided to select him. I can assure you that our son is marketable any day",
Gen. Adoga stated.

Alhaji Mohammad Hassan, APC Zonal Chairman, Zone C who spoke on behalf of the APC State Working Committee in the zone stated that he had been attending consultations by governorship aspirants that have been coming to Zone C to seek their support. He however, added that my message to them is very clear. "This is our time. This is the time for Zone C."

"Let all of us come together as Zone C people that this is our time. Like the Minister and leader of the party in the State [Senator George Akume] says: we are better together. Let it be us, not me", he said, reiterating that “we must come together; we must take a drastic decision that will make us win an election; a decision that must look out for a candidate that can win election irrespective of any sentiment”.

The APC Zonal Chairman also enjoined coordinators and supporters of Hon. Sam Ode to build a bridge of relationship so that at the end of the process "if he emerged as our candidate, you can have a means of talking to other people to join you. The relationship build now will make it easy for you after the primaries to talk to the other persons”.

The leader of APC in Zone C, Alhaji Usman Abubakar, popularly known as Young Alhaji, adopted a more thoughtful trajectory in addressing the issue of Benue South governorship in 2023.
Young Alhaji denounced the notion that the people of Zones A and B are not sympathetic to Benue South governorship agitation.

He emphasised "I, Young Alhaji, in order to build a stronger party in this Zone, to support our leader, Senator George Akume to be in control of Zones A, B and C, I have decided to remain suspended in my cocoon. If the next governorship ticket of APC comes to Benue South, take it from me, I will support a candidate from Oju/Obi for Senate. My desire to run for Senate shall be diminished permanently", he stated, stressing that "he who desire equity must come with clean hands".

"We are saying that governorship is not a monopoly of the people of Zones A and Zone B. Now, we must come and approach them with clean hands”, Young Alhaji concluded.

In his remark, the frontline APC governorship aspirant, Hon. Sam Ode said he had come to his people in Benue South as a continuation of the deputy governorship ticket they supported him to clinch in 2019 . He expressed gratitude for their overwhelming support for APC during the 2019 gubernatorial election in the State.

“I come to you as a continuation of that ticket. Today we are going to discuss the issue of governorship. And we are discussing the need for Zone C to lead this State of Benue. They say politics is a game of numbers; that the majority will have their way, but the minority will also have their say. The minority voice of the people of Benue South which is resonating very loudly in the whole of this country and the State today, is that time has come for a son or daughter of Zone C to become the governor of Benue State.

“I come before you in good faith; I come before you with love; I come before you with unity; I come before you in peace. I want to assure you here today that if you give me your support and you give me your blessing I will go to Zone A, I will go to Zone B and I will bring you the APC governorship ticket", Sam Ode reiterated.

In response to Senator Ebute's information about the Committee of Elders, Ode advised that clear parameters be set up for an equally transparent process so that people don't feel cheated in the end.

"Earlier on, our leader and father, Senator Ameh Ebute, informed us that there will be a group of leaders who will sit down to screen aspirants. I would like to advice that in doing so, let us set the parameters of that selection very carefully; and let it be very clear to the people of Benue South that the parameters for choosing who will be that candidate are clearly spelt, so that people don't feel cheated. Even if you favour me and people feel cheated, I may not win the general election because of protest. So, we have to be careful", he restated.

Hon. Ode also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his electoral reforms and the establishment of two tertiary Institutions in Zone C which he said is capable of changing the economy of the people of Zone C.

“I want to appreciate Mr. President for the establishment of the Federal College of Education at Odugbo in Apa Local Government Area, and also the Federal University of Health Sciences at Otukpo. These are two monumental contributions by the federal government to Benue South Senatorial District", Ode noted. He equally paid tribute to the leader of the APC in Benue State who is also the Minister for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume for his dogged determination to attract Federal Government projects and programmes to the State.

Highlight of the event was the presentation of Hon. Sam Ode by Alhaji Usman Abubakar, Gen Harrison Adoga, Senator Ameh Ebute, Chief John Enyi, Rt Hon. Baba Odeh and Hon Agida to the people of Benue South and by extension, the entire Benue.

“Permit us to present you before Benue South and by extension, the entire Benue State", Alhaji Abubakar said. Quoting from the Book of Joshua in the Holy Bible, the Zone C APC leader urged Sam Ode, whom he addressed as "Your Excellency", to "be courageous, go ahead and conquer!"

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