Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has set the machinery for 2027 in motion, inaugurating a joint campaign council for himself and President Bola Tinubu as the APC in the state begins laying groundwork for the general elections.
The council, chaired by Hon. Citizen Richard Asema as Director-General, was unveiled at IBB Square on Thursday, after which the governor commissioned the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Office at Wurukum, Makurdi.
Alia used the occasion to argue that neither Benue nor Nigeria needs a change of direction, saying his administration is steadily meeting its promises while the President continues to support the state’s recovery.
Addressing council members, he asked them to work as a united team, describing their selection as a vote of confidence from the party leadership and the people of the state. He also appealed to party members to bury personal differences and close ranks ahead of the elections.
He described Asema as a seasoned political operator capable of steering the campaign to victory.
On his record, Alia credited the federal government’s partnership for progress across security, education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture and industrialisation, noting in particular federal interventions that helped restore peace to communities previously troubled by insecurity.
His listed achievements include the hiring of 9,700 primary school teachers, upgrades to public school facilities, prompt payment of salaries and pensions, road construction and the setting up of agricultural processing plants.
He said road connections to all 23 local government areas are close to completion, with roughly a quarter of the work left, and pointed to the revival of abandoned projects — Taraku Mills, the International Conference Centre at IBB Square and the Cancer Centre at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital — as proof of his commitment to continuity.
If given another term, he said, his focus would be consolidation rather than fresh starts, sustaining what is already underway and ensuring public investments deliver lasting value.
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In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sir Tersoo Kula, the governor said industrialisation, agriculture and targeted spending on education, healthcare and commerce would remain central to breaking the cycle of poverty and widening economic opportunity.
He expressed confidence that Benue’s agricultural strength and emerging oil and gas prospects could generate substantial internal revenue and reduce the state’s reliance on federal allocations.