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The APC 2023 Senatorial Candidate for Benue South, Comrade Daniel Onjeh, has expressed cheerful congratulations to Dr. Sam Ode, on his emergence as the APC 2023 Deputy Governorship Candidate for Benue State.

In a statement issued by Com. Onjeh and made available to the Press, the APC candidate also congratulated all the other personable contenders for the position of Deputy Governorship Candidate of the APC in Benue State, adding that now that the processes of determination of the party’s candidates at all levels had been dispensed with, it was time for the genuine stakeholders to forge unity and heal the wounds of the past towards ultimately ensuring the victory of the party in the 2023 polls.

Com. Onjeh revealed that he deliberately refrained from interfering with the selection process because besides holding the view that it was the sole prerogative of the Principal Candidate, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, to select his running mate; he was also convinced that all the aspirants for the position were eminently qualified, and that a combination of Rev. Fr. Alia and either of them was capable of delivering unprecedented victory for the APC in Benue State in the 2023 General Elections.

The statement further read that now that the Deputy Governorship Candidate of the party had been formally announced, Com. Onjeh was willing to offer his full support to the Rev. Fr. Alia/Dr. Ode APC Ticket. The APC 2023 Senatorial Candidate for Benue South therefore encouraged all the other aspirants who lost out in the race for the Deputy Governorship Slot to still keep faith with the party, noting that the more the party stakeholders remained united, the stronger they shall be and the brighter their chances of winning the Benue Governorship race in 2023.

Com. Onjeh therefore urged all party members to look beyond the petty rivalry that ensued during the primary elections and also during the aspiration for Deputy Governorship position, and rather to keep their eyes on the ball, adding that if the APC successfully takes over the Governance of Benue State after the next General Elections, its members could be adequately compensated via one form of appointment or the other. Onjeh cautioned however that if the APC loses out of the governance of the state in 2023, its stakeholders would find themselves assembling in the next general elections to commence the arduous journey all over again.

Admitting that the Deputy Governorship contest had really slowed down the tempo of political activities in the Benue State Chapter of APC, Com. Onjeh said it was time for the APC stakeholders to put the past behind them and face the challenges ahead in 2023. The former National Student Leader and immediate past Chairman of the Governing Board of Projects Development Institute, (PRODA), Enugu, also encouraged members of the APC in Benue State to work assiduously towards delivering Benue State overwhelmingly in the 2023 Presidential Election, noting that if the party retains power at the Centre, there would be more space in the central government to absorb party stakeholders from Benue State into prime positions in the next political dispensation.

Furthermore, Com. Onjeh encouraged the Leadership of the APC in Benue State to improve on its reward system to stakeholders who had truly paid their dues to the party. The statement added that much of the desperation of aspirants during the primary elections and even in the recent process of selecting the party’s Deputy Governorship candidate is attributable to how people had been unfairly treated by the party in the past. Onjeh therefore advised that all those who had made significant contributions and sacrifices for the growth of the party, should be accorded priority attention when it comes to issues of appointment.

The statement concludes by urging Dr. Sam Ode to extend the olive branch to all his co-contenders for the Deputy Governorship Slot of the party. Com. Onjeh also implored all the other aspirants for the Deputy Governorship position, whom he described as popular politicians within Benue South, to lay aside any likely grievances they may still have regarding the process that led to the determination of the party’s Governorship Ticket, and join forces to promote the Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia/Dr. Sam Ode Ticket towards guaranteeing the ultimate success of the APC in the 2023 polls.