From: Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

Imo State Governor and Chairman, Progressive Governors’ Forum, (PGF) Chief Rochas Okorocha on Wednesday, announced a donation of N10 million by the Rochas Foundation to the Benue State Government to help ameliorate the effect of the recent flood which ravaged the state.

Okorocha, who was in Benue in company of his Kebbi State counterpart, Sen. Abubakar Bagudu, on a fact-finding mission on behalf of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, conveyed the sympathy of the 24 All Progressives Governors to the government and people of the state over the flood.

While noting that Benue State had consistently been in the news on several issues including the herdsmen invasion, salary and lately flood, the PGF Chairman expressed optimism that all the issues would soon end.

“We are here to convey the sympathy of the 24 APC governors to you. Benue has been besieged by many problems ranging from the herdsmen invasion, salary issue and of recent, this flood. I trust that in no distant time, all these problems would be surmounted,” Okorocha said.

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He said the PGF had sent them on a fact finding mission to see how it can come to the aid of the state stressing that now that they have come, they would take the report back to the Forum and then come back again to assist the people but used the opportunity to announce the N10 million donation on behalf of the Rochas Foundation.

Positing that the issue of climate change is real, Okorocha who maintained that desertification in the north was becoming a serious menace maintained that the federal government must make adequate arrangement to save the situation.

He commended the state government for making adequate arrangement to accommodate those who were displaced by the flood and assured that very soon, the PGF would return to assist the state with some relief materials.

Earlier in a remark, Governor Samuel Ortom told the team that the flood caught the state unawares after a heavy rain which lasted for two days adding that the flood affected 21 out of the 23 local government areas of the state.

While commending the APC governors for the visit, Ortom said their coming had given him hope that he is not alone at this time of distress even as he promised that all the relief materials donated to the state would be transparently distributed.