Comrade Daniel Onjeh, the 2023 All Progressives Congress, APC, Benue South senatorial candidate, has dismissed Senator Patrick Abba Moro’s claim that Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia hates the Idoma people.

Onjeh described Moro’s statement as “ill-informed, malicious, and a piece of deliberate misinformation aimed at misleading the unsuspecting public and inciting unnecessary ethnic sentiment.”

Onjeh, a former chairman of the Project Development Institute (PRODA), said the facts on the ground contradict Moro’s allegation.

“Governor Alia has shown greater inclusion, commitment, and genuine affection towards the people of Benue South within two years than the PDP-led administrations did in the sixteen years preceding him,” he stated.

He highlighted that strategic ministries such as Finance, Education, Water Resources, Information, Women Affairs, and the office of the Head of Service are currently led by competent sons and daughters of Benue South.

“No leader who hates a people would entrust them with such sensitive pillars of state administration,” Onjeh added.

Onjeh noted ongoing interventions in Benue South, including the rehabilitation of Oju Achoho Road, Igumale Agila Road, Otobi water works, and major road projects such as Oju Awajir (52 km), Obagaji Okokolo Agagbe (43.5 km), and Igumale Agila (31.2 km).

He said:“ The Aliade Mbakine Obarike Ito road project, measuring about 36 km and opening up a corridor with huge agricultural potential, is also in view and forms part of the Governor’s broader development blueprint for Benue South.”

He also stressed that Governor Alia’s policies directly benefit the poorest in the zone.

“The payment of unpaid salaries, gratuities, and pensions has had an immediate and positive effect on ordinary households,” Onjeh said, explaining that these payments injected disposable income into the economy and strengthened small businesses.

Onjeh further recalled a personal phone conversation with the Governor while he was abroad, during which they discussed issues affecting Benue South for nearly three hours.

“More than ninety per cent of the conversation was dedicated exclusively to Benue South,” he said, highlighting the Governor’s constant engagement with the Deputy Governor on the zone’s affairs.