Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
The Senator representing Benue South Senatorial District, Comrade Abba Moro has called on the Idoma people not to relent in their determination to clinch the Benue governorship seat in 2023.
Moro said in doing this, there was need for the Idoma people to court the support of their Tiv brothers to realise the dream of having an Idoma man as governor of the state comes 2023 and even beyond.
The former Minister of Interior made the call on Monday during a town hall meeting with his constituents on the ongoing campaign against hate speech and protection against falsehood and internet manipulation bills in Otukpo, the ancestral home of the Idoma people.
He posited that any legislation to rotate the governorship seat in the state would preclude the chances of other candidates who are qualified to contest.
“I want us to work assiduously in enlisting the support of our brothers. We must all work together and desire to work together when the time comes.
“We must work hard to make an Idoma person become governor of the state. One day and if I continue to represent you, I will lead the fight.
“Already, I have concluded plans to initiate and sponsor a bill on independent candidacy whereby you must not necessarily be a candidate of a political party before you can contest or win election. If the bill sails through at the end of the day, Idoma people will be in a better position to become governor of the state.
“We must unite, work together and support each other so that we can achieve our dreams. No Idoma person should see himself or herself as a second class citizen, you are not.
“An Idoma person would become governor by accident one day as it used to happen in other states of the federation. If we cannot be governor by election, we can be by incident.
“It is not an accident that we are paired with our Tiv brothers and for the fact that we are put together with them does not make us second hand citizens. We will one day be governor, all we need to do is to work together to get to where we are going.
“This is why am proposing a peace and security submit where we shall convoke to address some of these issues” Moro said.
While noting that falsehood and internet manipulation is a looming disaster to nation’s economy, Moro sought the consent of his constituents to hate speech and protection against falsehood and Internet manipulation bills.
He added that he was once a victim of Internet fraudsters who hacked his bank account and fleeced him of N700,000 about two years ago without him getting a bank alert.
Responding, various speakers at the town hall meeting commended the Senator for his commitment towards realizing the Idoma dream and promised to support him on the protection against falsehood and internet manipulation bill while they called for caution on hate speech bill.
The constituents advocated for the strengthening of existing laws to take care of those crimes, citing the penal code and laws covering libel or slander as examples.
They particularly cited the ruling party, All Progressives Congress, APC, which got into power through hate speech and propaganda and said it would be unfair for the same government to turn back and attempt to criminalise free speech as guaranteed by the 1999 constitution (as amended).
The state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sir John Ngbede as well as former member of house of Representatives, Ezekiel Adaji particularly called for the support of hate speech so that PDP can also use it to dislodge APC in the 2023 general elections.