BENUE – Prof. Sebastian Hon (SAN), Benue Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate, says that the zoning arrangement favours him more than other candidates vying for the state number one seat.
Hon made the assertion in an interview with newsmen in Gboko while responding to claims that the zoning arrangement did not favour his 2027 governorship aspiration.
The legal luminary argued that the political history of the state did not support claims that the governorship should be reserved for any particular zone.
“We need to go down memory lane. The political history of Benue State has clearly defined zoning, though some people have misconstrued it. God opened my eyes to see that there are no plausible arguments against my position.
“Available records show that former governor Aper Aku served four years and three months before the military coup of Dec. 31, 1983.
“Rev. Fr. Moses Adasu served one year, 10 months and 17 days before his administration was terminated by another military takeover.
“The combined period amounts to about six years in office for Benue North-East (Zone A) before the return to democratic rule.
“If the incumbent Gov. Hyacinth Alia completes his first term, Zone A will have accumulated more than 18 years in office,” he explained.
The senior advocate further said that Benue North-West (Zone B), where he came from, had produced only two governors—former Gov. George Akume and former Gov. Samuel Ortom—who served eight years each, making a total of 16 years.
“So, between Zone A and Zone B, which zone is more entitled to produce the governor?
“Besides, Zone A has produced four governors, while Zone B has produced only two.
“Let me stretch the argument further. Benue also has Zone C. If we are talking about strict zoning, what happens to Zone C? They also belong to Benue and are equally entitled to produce a governor.
“So, nobody can lay exclusive claim to the governorship on the basis of zoning,” he said.
Hon also argued that appointments under the current administration had not strictly followed zoning principles.
According to him, positions such as the speaker of the State House of Assembly, the chief of staff and the secretary to the state government were not allocated in line with any rigid zoning arrangement.
“If the purpose of zoning is to ensure that all parts of the state feel the impact of governance, then these actions have undermined that principle.
“Therefore, no one can convincingly insist on zoning only when it comes to the governorship. These arguments, so far, remain unanswered,” he said. (NAN)
