Protocols,

I thank the Almighty God for this wonderful opportunity to represent my party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), in the forthcoming 2023 General Elections in Nigeria. My special appreciation goes to the leader of our great party in the State, His Excellency, Senator Dr. George Akume, Honorable Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs; the State Working Committee of the APC under the leadership of Comrade Austin Agada; all the Local Government Areas and Council Wards Exco of our great party; the numerous support groups under the auspices of the Divine Mandate; and indeed, all the teeming members of our party who came out in their thousands to exercise their civic responsibility with great hope and enthusiasm.

With great honour and sincerity, I am deeply humbled by your show of love and support, which did not come without a cost. I am aware that when the nomination exercise could not be held yesterday as planned due to exigencies beyond our control, our people voluntarily refused to go back home. They slept in open spaces across the entire state, waiting till the late hours of today to cast their votes. I lack the words to sincerely appreciate all stakeholders in our party across the state for their confidence in my ability to lead our party to victory come 2023.

Let me at this juncture congratulate my brothers and co-contestants in this election for their dogged, genuine, and competitive contest and determination to lead our party in this very capacity.

I quickly declare, “No victor, no vanquish” and solicit for unity of purpose to enable us to rescue our good people in the hands of wicked, incompetent, and irresponsible leadership.

I am very sure that if we quickly heal our wounds and work together, our party has started its journey to democratic consolidation in 2023 on a sound note.

I also extend this special invitation to all those who are aggrieved with other political parties in the state to join hands with us in the APC in providing credible and desirable leadership to our people.

Let me once again appreciate the stabilizing role of the State Working Committee led by Comrade Austin Agada. No doubt, Comrade Agada and his State Exco have written their names in gold in the political annals of this state, being the first to organize the most peaceful and transparent Direct Primaries with overwhelming participation. Mr Chairman Sir, this legacy of transparency and accountability will be faithfully bequeathed in all our political dealings come 2023.

I am fully aware of the challenges ahead of us as a party and as a people. I want to assure our party leaders and supporters of our burning desire to provide new political leadership in the state, making effective use of our party structures in virtually all the political council wards in the state. We intend to produce new economic development templates, taking cognizance of our past mistakes and the economic realities of our time.

It is easy for us now to capitalize on the inability of the PDP-led government to fix the current economic and other challenges confronting our state to clinch all positions in the forthcoming general elections.

This, however, requires unity of purpose and teamwork across all our party structures. We need to show our teeming supporters that deceit and propaganda have nothing to offer for the sustainable development of Benue State.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is not an occasion for making long speeches. However, let me urge our teeming supporters that there is a herculean task ahead of us. We are still very far away from our desired destination.

We can only reach our destination safely if all of us have our PVCs. Get your PVCs and vote for Fr. Iormem Alia and let the Benue people rest.

I am very sure that a vote for Fr. Alia is a vote for the rehabilitation and resettlement of the IDPs; a vote for the transformation of our agricultural value chain; a vote for youth employment and empowerment; a vote for adequate and timely payment of salaries and pensions; a vote for technical education and skills acquisition; a vote for women’s participation; a vote for the revival of commercial and industrial capacity of the state; a vote for effective transportation and massive expansions in economic infrastructure across the state.

I once again thank God and our stakeholders for choosing me to lead in salvaging the fortunes of the APC and Benue State at the moment. I urge all of you to vote for the APC in the 2023 general elections to put the government of propaganda to shame.

Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia,

APC 2023 Governorship Candidate, in Benue State.