A former Chairman, Projects Development Institute (PRODA) Enugu, Daniel Onjeh is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the Benue South Senatorial seat in the coming 2023 elections.
Although, he is not a first timer or strange to the Benue political terrain, Onjeh, an ex-PRODA Chairman have thrown his hat into the ring again to contest for the Senatorial position in 2023 like his previous attempts, the most contentious being in 2015 where he lost to the then President of the Senate David Mark, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The outcome of that election later triggered a legal brawl between Onjeh and Mark.
In settling the feud occasioned by the ‘controversial’ election, the Appeal Court in Makurdi, made up of a two-man panel led by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye consequently dismissed Onjeh’s petition, saying it was filed out of time and went ahead to re-affirmed the election of Senator David Mark.
Other political ‘Goliaths’who this ‘David’ has slugged it out with includes; former deputy governor of the state, Chief Steven Lawani, a former deputy governor to ex Governor Suswam for eight years of two terms, Austin Oleho, Ejeh Joseph, Joseph Ajene, and Nelson Alapa who he defeated with a wide margin in his current attempt to take another shot at the red chamber to represent his people.
The man Onjeh started out as a foremost Student Union leader who bestrode the National Association of Nigeria’s Students (NANs) landscape with boldness and charisma of a youthful President.
Throughout Onjeh’s campaign which later berthed at the famous Ribadu Square in Yola, venue of the much talked about NANs election back then, no one ever doubted the fact that the student union was in for a big deal.
At last, we were all proving right as Onjeh, then basking in the quest and position of the greatest Nigerian students swung into action and restored the glory of not only NANs but generality of Nigerian students while his reign lasted.
My first encounter with Onjeh was when he was touring Zone D’, comprising of South West higher institutions canvassing for votes, later at Ribadu square in Yola, Adamawa State, where as NANs Senator from Zone D, yours sincerely with Comrade Abel Moses the then (President of the SUG FCA, Moor Plantation Ibadan), Comrade Benjamin Ijagbemi (The Speaker of the SRC) voted alongside other accredited senators of NANs for Onjeh who eventually emerged the winner against all odds.
Our paths crossed again when Onjeh came for a thank you tour of zone d’ which held at the prestigious Comrade Kunle Awopegba hall at the University of Ibadan. The rest as they say is history.
However, twenty one years after Onjeh’s NANs expedition, the mystery called ‘Daniel’ has continued to wax on like a Trojan, a journey that has now pitched him against the highs and the mightiest in contemporary Nigerian politics.
Surprisingly, he has been fighting real cleanliness including using the instrumentality of the law to fight his cause despite the murky nature of the country’s politics and long road to justice in some cases.
Shortly after he got his party the All Progressives Congress (APC) nod to fly its party’s flag in Benue South Senatorial District again, he was asked in an interview what he will do differently, replying he said; “I want to effectively carry out my oversight functions to ensure that the dividends of democracy and good governance trickle down from the federal desk to my constituents and also to ensure that whatever that is due to my people with respect to federal constituency development projects get to them.
“The failure of any legislator to carry out an oversight function on issues that bother his people is a clear pointer and indication to his culpability in the socio-political and economic crisis against his people. And that is where the former senate president is found wanting.”
Apparently referring to Senator David Mark, former Senate President who he once contested against in a fiery contest that ended up in the court of law, Onjeh added; “My assessment of the election is that I defeated David Mark with a landslide victory. What made him to have those votes was merely the padding of results from the various local government areas to catch up with my votes and subsequently have a lead of about 12,000 votes. I say this because from the records we had from the election situation room, I was leading him and suddenly votes started coming in from areas where they were deliberately delayed. They were watching to see what I would get from my strongholds so that they could pad up votes, which was what they did.
“Over 29,000 of our votes were cancelled and the purported margin of victory between Senator David Mark and I was 12, 000,” he was quoted as saying.
But like a cat with nine lives, the defiant Onjeh again commenced hisgrassroots campaign tour of the various Local Government Areas and Council Wards of Benue South, with a visit to Okpokwu Local Government.
For obvious reasons, Onjeh and his team first berthed at the residence of the former President of the Senate, Sen. Ameh Ebute, who led them to the Odessassa Town Hall venue of the Local Government reception, to a massive crowd of excited Onjeh supporters.
At the high octane gathering and to the admiration of supporters and constituents’, Sen. Ameh Ebute, former Senate President affirmed Onjeh as the best candidate to offer the most effective and efficient representation to the Benue South people at the Senate, imploringthe Okpokwu electorates to give him their full support.
While reeling out his plans in response, Onjeh pledged to rally other senators of like minds to ensure the re-introduction and speedy passage of the Local Government Autonomy Bill, adding that only full-fledged administrative and financial autonomy for local governments can ensure the availability of resources for grassroots infrastructural development.
He also assured his teeming supporters that he will be part of the critical mass of Senators in the next political dispensation that will advocate for constitutional amendment, to provide for the rotation of political power amongst the various geopolitical zones of the country, as well as Senatorial Districts of the respective states, saying only power rotation can guarantee that a Benue South citizen would govern Benue State in the future.
Now that the narrative has changed, without any doubt, the Benue South electorates may have settled for Onjeh again as was the case in their previous endorsement.
With the support of the people of Benue South therefore, it would not be out of place to say that this time around, Daniel Onjeh, their darling Comrade is marching to the red chamber with ease in 2023.
Comrade Osasona, ANIPR, FFPS a Journalist, PR practitioner, Columnist, wrote from Abuja.
