Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, has drawn attention to the worsening insecurity in Benue South Senatorial District, following the killing of a public health worker, Ojama Emie, by suspected armed herdsmen in Apa Local Council.

Relatedly, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, accused Nigeria’s political class of capturing the country and weaponising poverty for electoral gains, declaring that “political gangsters and highwaymen” have laid siege to the nation.

This was as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) restored 22 state constituencies across Benue, Delta, Jigawa and Kogi states and fixed June 16 to 25, 2026, for political parties to conduct primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, yesterday declared that the 2027 general election would serve as a referendum on President Bola Tinubu’s reforms, urging supporters of the administration to embark on aggressive grassroots mobilisation to secure public backing for the government’s policies.

RAISING the matter under Order 42 (Personal Explanation) on the floor of the Senate, Moro said Emie was ambushed and killed on Monday, June 8, 2026, at the Ugbobi Road Junction along the Ikobi–Ugbokpo axis, a route he described as increasingly unsafe for commuters and rural dwellers.

The senator disclosed that the victim was beheaded by his attackers, who fled the scene with his severed head, leaving the community in shock and deep fear.

Moro lamented that the attack was part of a disturbing pattern of violence spreading across Benue South, affecting communities in Apa, Agatu, Otukpo, Ohimini and Ogbadibo local councils, where residents have repeatedly reported attacks, displacement and insecurity on farmlands and roads.

He expressed concern over the “weak preventive security presence in rural areas”, noting that while federal security agencies respond to incidents in cities, communities remain exposed due to limited proactive deployment.

Moro further drew attention to the continued detention of Silas Oloche, a youth leader in Agatu who has been held for over a year on allegations of illegal possession of firearms. He said the detention weakened community-level security coordination amid ongoing attacks.

The senator urged the Senate leadership and relevant federal authorities to urgently intervene in the escalating violence in Benue South and review cases involving community security actors, stressing the need for a balanced approach that protects both citizens and lawful security efforts.

DURING the presentation of certificates of return and party flags to the PRP’s presidential, governorship, National Assembly and other candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections in Abuja, Duke said Nigeria was facing an existential crisis brought about by years of poor leadership, corruption, insecurity and economic mismanagement.

Stressing that the country needed a fundamental change in governance, the former governor of Cross River State said,
“The truth is that we have lost focus. Political gangsters and highwaymen have laid siege to and appropriated our land, ruling with impunity. They have weaponised the poverty they created, and every four years they return seeking a so-called mandate, loading further burdens upon our already weary shoulders.”

According to him, insecurity has deteriorated to the point where criminal groups now exercise authority over citizens in parts of the country.

Earlier, the National Chairman of PRP, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said the party was offering Nigerians an alternative to what he described as decades of failed leadership and abuse of democratic institutions.

He accused successive leaders of converting the country’s collective wealth into private assets and exploiting ethnic and religious differences for political advantage.

INDEED, the restoration of the 22 state constituencies followed court judgments directing INEC to reinstate constituencies that had been suppressed for years, thereby enabling affected communities to elect representatives into their respective Houses of Assembly.

Chairman of INEC Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, stated yesterday that the commission acted in line with constitutional provisions and the Electoral Act, 2026.

According to him, the restored constituencies are Nyamatsor, Ukum Afia, Konshisha III (Shangev-Tiev), Makurdi III (South-East) and Gboko III in Benue State. Others are Aniocha North II, Ika North East II, Sapele II, Ethiope West II, Warri South-West II and Warri North II in Delta State.

The commission restored Aujara in Jigawa State, and Adavi East, Eika, Ajaokuta North, Bassa-Komu, Dekina Town and District, Ijumu II, Kabba-Bunu II, Koton Karfe II, Igalaogwa and Ogugu in Kogi.
UZODIMMA said Nigerians would be confronted with a defining choice at the next polls: whether to sustain the Tinubu administration’s economic and governance reforms or return to what he described as the failed policies of the past.

Speaking at the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHA) Retreat on National Mobilisation in Abuja, the governor framed the forthcoming election as a verdict on the sweeping reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration since assuming office in May 2023.

He said: “The 2027 polls will be a referendum on a single question: Does Nigeria stay on this hard but necessary road of reform, stability and shared prosperity, or turn back?”