Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in Benue state, Hingah Biem, says he is on a reconciliation process with members of the party before it commences its campaign flag off.
The embattled SDP governorship candidate had on January 17, 2019, recovered his mandate after a federal high court declared him winner following his unlawful substitution by the national leadership of the party.
The court had sacked Stephen Hwande, who never participated in the primaries that took place in Makurdi last year, but was presented as Benue SDP governorship candidate.
Hingah Biem who expressed gratitude to the judiciary for restoring his mandate, called on Benue people to believe and trust in the party as he begins the process of reconciliation and building confidence.
The former permanent secretary in Benue expressed worries over the level of impunity by some party leaders and stated that democracy in Nigeria will continue to suffer setbacks if nothing is done to check some of their excesses.
He further stated that the judgment will send a very strong signal to party leaders that it is not all the time that you get away with impunity.
Biem noted that the SDP has lost so much ground. “We are in a contest with other political parties. They are already campaigning and we have not started. For the two months we were in court, other parties were covering grounds and we were losing grounds because a good number of people were moving away from us.
“Now that it is settled, we need to sit as a family and plan. Perhaps, where there are injuries, we will heal them so we can work together as members of same family.
He said party leaders had met in Abuja last week and agreed that in the spirit of reconciliation, those who lost in court should be prepared to accept defeat and not challenge the decision of the court any further and that those who won should be magnanimous in victory.
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“So, we have started consultations to come out with a solution that will be acceptable to all of us” Biem said.
He further explained that it was in the same spirit of reconciliation that Dickson Akor who was the running mate to Dr. Hwande was chosen to work with him as a running mate.
Mr Biem thanked his supporters and all those who had been in the trenches with him, while the case lasted, expressing the hope that while he visits the party’s national secretariat and INEC within the week, his candidature will be formalized to enable him participate successfully in the governorship elections.
Hingah Biem pledged that when he flags off his state wide campaigns, it would be issues based, devoid of violence and acrimony. “I will not mention any issues that bother on individuals or personalities but only things that bother on the yearnings of our people,” he added.
Meanwhile the state party chairman, John Enemari said he has written to the national secretariat to send Hingah Biem’s name to INEC for recognition as the authentic governorship candidate of the party.
Enemari in the letter titled “Re-Demand for Compliance With Judgement…,” which he made available to the Next Edition at the party secretariat, appealed to the national secretariat to send the name soonest to enable the state party carry out its campaigns for the elections.
