By James Shim
The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State has officially presented the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Letter of acknowledgement as gubernatorial candidate to Revd. Fr Hyacinth Alia.
There has been a wave of uncertainty about the party’s candidate since the conduct of its gubernatorial primaries.
This followed protests by some co-contestants in the party regarding the conduct and outcome of the exercise and the inexplicable delay in the official presentation of certificate of nomination to Fr Alia.
But the letter which was presented Tuesday, August 23, 2022 at the state secretariat of the APC in Makurdi acknowledged Fr Alia as the governorship candidate of the party for the 2023 general elections in Benue State,
Speaking during the presentation, the Chairman of APC in Benue State, Comrade Austin Agada, said the event was the beginning of the second phase of activities that would usher APC to victory in 2023.
Comrade Agada said, as a political party, it was incumbent on them to harmonize grievances and discontent with the process that led to the emergence of Fr Alia as the candidate of the party.
He said, it was imperative for Fr Alia to intensify the personal efforts he was already making to bridge any perceived gap between him and the aggrieved members of the party and congratulated him, and indeed, all members of APC in Benue State,
Responding, Fr Alia thanked Benue people for finding him worthy of their trust by chosing him to bear the flag of the party, for the 2023 gubernatorial election in the State.
Fr Alia appreciated APC leadership in Benue State for providing platform for him to contest and also congratulated those who contested with him, describing his emergence as a victory for all.
He reiterated his readiness in governing the people of Benue State, pointing out that for the past 32 years, he has been in the trenches with the downtrodden and he knows what exactly are their problems, even as he appealed to all members of APC to join hands and work for the unity and common integration of the party in the state.
The governorship candidate stressed that if voted into office, he will put a permanent stop to the era of lies and fake promises in Benue politics, even as he submitted finally that APC is for change and all members of the party must be a representation of that change.