Executive Governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

A Benue group under the aegis of Kwande Youth Council, KYC, has vowed to resist any move to impose a Local Government Chairmanship candidate on the people of Kwande Local Government Area, LGA, in the forthcoming council polls in the state.

They warned those peddling the rumour that Governor Samuel Ortom had anointed a woman as the preferred candidate for Kwande LGA in the forthcoming election to learn from history and bury the idea.

ALSO READ: Impeachment Plot: Another wicked scheme to malign me ― Gov Ishaku 

The group, in a statement issued yesterday in Makurdi by its publicity secretary Orkuma Adzua Ikyur, said the people of the area had never in the past allowed imposition of chairmanship candidates and would not give their consent to such in the area.

They condemned the act of name dropping by desperate politicians to score cheap political points saying “some are claiming that Governor Ortom has anointed a female candidate being fronted by a section of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the LGA for the office of chairman.

“Governor Ortom has a cordial relationship with the people of kwande, as evident in the high profile appointments he has trusted them with and will not buy into the machinations of a few individuals who are out to create chaos.”

ALSO READ: Babcock graduate, Abiru, emerges overall best at 2019 Law School Bar Exams

The group recalled how in 2004, a similar insinuation led to armed conflict that resulted in killings, destruction of property and the crumbling of economic activities in the area and cautioned against a repeat.

The KYC urged political actors in the area to uphold the extant political arrangement which respects the wishes of the people of Kwande in line with the democratic principles of fairness, equity, and inclusion.

Vanguard News