Benue Govt Reassures Tinubu Of 1m Votes In 2027

The Benue State Government has reiterated its pledge to mobilise not less than 1 million votes for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in the 2027 general election.

Deputy Governor of the state, Dr. Sam Ode, restated this while conducting senior journalists and government officials on an inspection tour of federal and state government projects organised by Renewed Hope Ambassadors in collaboration with the Presidential Media Team in Benue on Wednesday.

According to Ode, Governor Hyacinth Alia had earlier promised to deliver more than one million votes for Tinubu in next year’s polls.

The former Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs said he had taken it upon himself and other members of the State Executive Council to ensure that the promise made by the governor is actualised.

“We already have a pronouncement by the Benue State governor that the state will deliver one million votes to President Tinubu.

“It is my responsibility as the deputy governor to mobilise the people of the state in large numbers, with other members of the State Executive Council, to ensure that we actualise the promise made by the governor,” he stated.

Ode applauded the federal government’s inspiring infrastructure and socio-economic revolution in the state through the Renewed Hope Agenda blueprint of President Tinubu’s administration.

He said most of the federal and state government projects across the state were made possible by the availability of funds to Benue from the centre, due to President Tinubu’s impactful reforms and the prudent application of funds by Governor Alia.

Speaking at the High Level Interchange project of the state government, connecting four major arterial roads in the heart of Makurdi, the state capital, Ode said the increase in federal allocation was what the state government had been utilising for the benefit of the Benue people.

“It is their commonwealth, so we want them to see in real terms what development is. So what you see here today is a manifestation of the prudent utilisation and frugal application of the funds which are coming from the federation account, which, like you said, have increased since this government of Asiwaju Tinubu came into being,” he said.

At the Food Basket Brewery, producer of Zeva Beer and other non-alcoholic beverages, the deputy governor said it was “in line with the multi-sectoral approach of President Tinubu on the need for state governors to invest in projects that will impact directly on the lives of the people.”

“Under the leadership of the Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, we initiated this Food Basket Brewery. It is not only an alcoholic beverage plant but also produces non-alcoholic beverages.”

Stressing the importance of the Buruku Bridge crossing the Katsina-Ala River, Ode thanked the federal government for the project, which is a major link road between the North Central and the North East — from Benue to Taraba State.

“This is quite a monumental project. We term it as a golden gift to the people of Benue State by our President. If you know the history of this bridge, we have come a very long way with it.

“This river has consumed lives and property. There have been a lot of boat mishaps across this river over the decades. And by the way, this is the fifth bridge within the territory of Benue State.”

Also speaking, the leader of the delegation and Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said it is one of the indices of prudent use of resources by the federal government from whatever source, including borrowing.

“I think as Nigerians we see that the government has been accused of so many things; of borrowing money, but we can see where the money is going to: to develop infrastructure, to link people who have been forgotten before, to make sure that at least commerce flows freely.

“Farmers can get their produce straight to the market and so on. We can shorten the travel time between one community and another, especially between rural areas and the capital.

“You can see that this one where we are now, and the one in Buruku, is going to affect three states — Taraba, Adamawa — and link all of them together to Benue. So it’s going to be beneficial to everybody economically,” he said.

At the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), Makurdi, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Benue State, Tersoo Kula, said following Governor Alia’s interventions, the facility has become a medical centre, especially in the North Central.

“People are coming from Abuja, Nasarawa, some from Taraba, some from Enugu. They are coming to access healthcare here,” he said.

For his part, the Chief Medical Director of BSUTH, Dr. Stephen Hwande, said the governor has in the last three years invested about N20 billion in the hospital, and part of the fund has been allocated to the development of a cancer centre and a physiotherapeutic centre for children with special needs, among others.

“This cancer centre is expected to serve this region. There’s none. Taraba is around this axis. There’s no cancer centre in Taraba, there is no cancer centre in Kogi, there’s no cancer centre in Nasarawa. So if this cancer centre is finished, it will serve this area.

“The physiotherapeutic centre for children with special needs: there was no place in Benue where people could take their autistic children, those with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, blindness, or those with learning disabilities.

“So this is a specialised centre for a multidisciplinary approach. We have paediatricians, cardiologists, psychologists, and teachers. The special needs teachers are divided into those for vision, those for auditory, those for speech disorders, those for autism. So they are specialists,” he added.

Other projects inspected by the team include the Wurukum Flyover in Makurdi, the 9th Mile-Otukpo-Enugu Federal Road Project, the Gboko Underpass, and the Ameladu Federal Waterworks in Gboko.