2023: Hembe Promises To Bring The Desired Change If Elected Governor
.. Appeals for a level playing field
RT. Hon. Herman Hembe addressing APC Party Executive during the interactive session in Makurdi
By Prosper Okoye –
The member representing Vandikya and Konshisha Federal Constituency in Benue State, Rt Hon. Herman Hembe Esq. has promised to actualize the desired changes in all aspects of the people’s life if he is elected governor in the 2023 governorship election.
Hon. Hembe who is an aspirant on the All Progressives Congress (APC) party platform, made this promise on Friday, during an interactive session with the state APC executives, at the Party’s secretariat in Makurdi.
“When our people go to other states and see developmental changes, they are becoming used to thinking that nothing good can happen in our state; but this is not true. I have come to bring that change, to reintroduce development, physical and social infrastructures, and every good thing a government is responsible for doing for the people,” Hon. Hembe assured.
While introducing him at the event, the APC State Publicity Secretary, Dan-Morgan Ihomun, described Hembe as a “young man any constituency would be proud of, for the good job that he does for his people. He is a young man who is ready to carry Benue state on his shoulders if given the opportunity.”
Hembe encouraged his fellow party members to be courageous to contest the 2023 general elections, even though the party is an opposition party in the state.
“What the Benue people want today is change. We have won elections in the past under the APC. We contested in 2015 and won against the young, vibrant, and energetic party man, Gabriel Suswam, who was the incumbent governor. And that victory brought Samuel Ortom as governor.
“At that time, only a few thought we could pull off such a feat, but we came together, without having all the money in the world. We came together with unanimity of purpose, and we were able to not just win the governorship position.
We won 13 seats in the Benue State House Assembly. We won seven of 11 seats in the Federal House of Representatives. We also won two out of the three Senatorial Seats in the state. We won almost all the local government chairman positions. Lastly, we overwhelmingly voted for President Buhari and he won in Benue state,” he recounted
The governorship aspirant shared his story of how he became the representative of his constituency, buttressing the point that the party’s State Secretary, Paul Biam, had made in his opening remark. Therein he called Hon. Heman, a “divine child,” noting that he had known him from his early years in politics.
“I am a product of grace,” Hon. Heman began. “When I won the election in 2007 I had nothing. I had recently graduated from school and was living together with some friends in Lugbe, in Abuja.
“I had no job, so I came back to the village to engage in politics. For me, if I lost I would at least get some compensation by getting an appointment as a special assistant, so I didn’t take it too seriously.
“I asked to run for the position of a counsellor, but I was told that someone from my constituency had just occupied the position. I asked that I contest for House of Assembly Member, and I was told that it was not our turn.
“The position that was left to contest was that of the Federal House of Representatives, which was very big for me at that time. I had imagined how I would contest a position that Gabriel Suswam was just exiting, but there was nothing else I could do; so I decided to try my luck.
“At that time, the PDP had so much internal conflict between George Akume, David Mark, and Gemade. Not being among the fight, I was just being pushed around until I was pushed to the front.
“On the day of elections, voting was conducted, and the majority of the people voted for me; not because I gave them money. When the winners were announced, candidates who had large followers were sung for and carried away by their supporters. But when my name was mentioned nobody was there to sing for me or to carry me up.
“Unfortunately, my constituency was also among the constituencies slated for an election rerun; because there was a policy that every candidate who didn’t win with a 50 per cent margin would do a re-run. But as God would have it, President Olusegun Obasanjo, cancelled the election rerun. That was how I got into politics; I had never planned to be anything.”
Hembe further appealed to the party executives to provide a level playing field for all aspirants to contest the party’s primaries. “When someone loses an election freely, he goes to sit down. He will understand that the people do not want him. But when he feels robbed, he will challenge the process in court. This has a way of lowering any political party’s chances in winning the general elections,” he stated.
Responding to Hon. Hembe’s appeal, the State Party Chairman Comrade Austin Agada, represented by Stephen Tsev PhD, said, many of the executive members had made good names that they value so much, and as such would not want to rubbish it by acting in an unethical manner. He assured him that the party would not take side with any aspirant.
He also advised him to continue with his consultations with strategic stakeholders in the communities; as only the people could decide who their governor will be.
