A former student unionist, Comrade Daniel Onjeh, Sunday urged members of All Progressives Congress, APC, to support and nominate him as the flag bearer of the Benue South Senatorial District.
The young politician made the appeal during his formal declaration for the Senate seat in Otukpo on Sunday.
Onjeh, who contested the seat against former Senate President, David Mark in 2015, said that he was running again because the issues which warranted his aspiration in that election were still lingering and unresolved.
He said, “A cursory and comparative look at the Benue South makes it safe for one to conclude that our people are the most deprived and our district the most underdeveloped in Nigeria in spite of the humongous constituency funds allocated to the zone in the last 19 years.
“We have been existing without a voice since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999.”
According to him, he was offering himself to productively and effectively represent the voiceless and vast majority of the zone in the 9th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Onjeh said that regardless of the internal challenges in the party, he had been loyal to the party from ACN to APC.
“I have never contemplated defecting to any other party in the least because for me, changing from one political party to another is akin to changing my religion,” he said.
Onjeh alleged that some newcomers in the party were plotting to deprive him of the opportunity of finishing the almost concluded struggle he embarked on in the last 12 years.
“While, I welcome them into the contest, I urge them to imbibe democratic principles by subjecting themselves to a free and fair primary in the pursuance of the party’s Senatorial ticket and not by striving to obtain the ticket through the back door,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, quoted Onjeh as saying that he had been in the party with members and knew their needs, promising that he would be there for them if elected to the exalted office.
The APC Chairman in Otukpo Local Government Area, Adejo Eigege, urged every member to support Onjeh to clinch the party’s ticket as the Senatorial candidate, saying he would remember the zone when elected.
Also speaking, Emmanuel Ogona, the Deputy Leader of Ado Legislative Council, on behalf of the entire councillors, said that Onjeh represented the younger generation and knew the yearnings of the people.
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