News Editor
From Dooshima Terkura, Makurdi
A Benue group, Movement for Actualization of Kwande Gubernatorial Ambition
(MAKGA), has once more expressed their commitment to pursuing the Kwande Governorship Agenda come 2027.
Convener of the group, Leonard Ikyem, in a statement made available to newsmen in Makurdi on Tuesday said their pursuit of the agenda is to fulfill and old dream yet to be realized.
Ikyem who noted that the renewal of the Kwande Governorship Agenda in 2027 has received varied reactions ranging from expressions of support, surprise, outright abuse and threats said they would not be deterred in the quest.
While he appreciated those who has the courage to stand solidly behind them, the group leader assured them that “our sights are firmly set on Kwande Governor, come 2027.”
While he noted that there is no legal inhibition to a Kwande indigene becoming Governor in 2027, Ikyem said if you stand for an election there is the possibility of winning, no matter how slim the chances and there is no chance of winning, at all, if you don’t.
“As long as we live and there is opportunity, we commit ourselves to pursuing the Kwande Governorship Agenda,” he said.
He pointed out that while every electoral season, in 2027 or even beyond, present their people with opportunities for two positions, Senatorial and governorship seats, they will therefore, have to choose to go for either or both of them, as an intermediate area.
“On this basis we do not see our brothers campaigning for Senator as our opponents or enemies that need to be denigrated. We see most of them as noble Kwande sons who are our worthy partners in political endeavor.
“The few among them who have questionable, mercenary or even crass pecuniary motives are still part and parcel of the inevitable political lineup. It is very possible for all of us to partner and mobilize to deliver on both.
“By announcing that we will mobilize for a Kwande Governor come 2027, we reckon that there is an incumbent who has surprisingly announced that he has eight years to be in office. But we know as of fact that the tenure of a first term Governor in Nigeria is four years subject to re-election.
“We also know as a fact that re-election is not and has never been automatic but rather subject to the wishes of the electorate. We do not wish to be the first to point to history which has recorded several governors in Nigeria who did not win a second term.
“By referring to the fact that there is an incumbent who sees himself as having already won a second term, we are aware that arm twisting, intimidation, favor seeking, violence, influence peddling and sponsorship of counter groups will likely be deployed into the arena against us. Some of the things happening are indications of what we had anticipated. But we are fully prepared for all these.”
He said the commitment to pursuing the realization of the Kwande Governorship Agenda has been done constitutionally within the ambit of the law. “We have done nothing outside the law and shall not do anything illegal and as such we shall resort to legal means for the protection of our constitutional rights and privileges, if need be.
“No one should contemplate our inclusion in plans to use state power to cow us. The conviction that we are pursuing what is our right as well as the force of history as descendants of people who defeated marauders will avail for us.”
They again appealed to the Benue electorate to give the Kwande intermediate area the opportunity in 2027 to once again replicate and surpass the milestones recorded by another Kwande son, Governor Apollos Aper Aku, of blessed memory.
