Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
A retired military general and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major General Lawrence Onoja (retd), has urged Benue voters in the forthcoming supplementary election of March 23 to vote for APC governorship candidate Hon. Emmanuel Jime and his deputy Hon. Sam Ode in the interest of rapid development of the state.
Gen Onoja, who made this declaration when Ohimini Women League visited him in his Idekpa country home Wednesday, maintained that with ongoing projects like the Makurdi-Aliade-Otukpo Federal Road under construction by the Buhari administration, it will be wise to vote in an APC governor for faster development of the state.
In a statement by his Media consultant, Paul Udenyi, Onoja stated that Benue State has historically belonged to the national government and must continue.
The retired infantry general, who argued that Benue State cannot afford to belong to the opposition party in the next four years, assured that workers and pensioners who are owed salaries and pension arrears by Governor Ortom will be payed by Jime if elected governor.
He said that since the PDP government knows that majority of civil servants and pensioners voted for the Jime/Odeh ticket, leaving the state in the hands of Ortom will see many of them laid off and victimized, while pensioners will suffer a greater death toll as witnessed in the last three and half years in the state.
Those championing sentiments that other governors in the past did two terms, he said, are dishonest, even as he asked if civil servants and pensioners were badly treated in the past like the present state government.
Onoja urged the APC to closely monitor the PDP for rigging, particularly at the supplementary polling units, dismissing the so-called over 80,000 vote margin as a non issue, while stressing that most of the areas are APC strongholds under Senator George Akume’s control.
Earlier, the group, led by its National Coordinator, Mrs Alice Oche, applauded General Onoja for delivering not only his Idekpa ward but the entire Ohimini LG to APC in last Saturday’s governorship and state house of assembly polls.
According to the women’s group, Onoja, who influenced the creation of the local government during the military era, has not abandoned the development of the area, and has remained focused on uniting the community.