2019: On Akume, Suswam and Ortom By Iorliam'Amo Shija

In 2007, His Excellency,  Distinguished Senator George Akume, made history and set a record. That year,  Akume, before 1999, a former local government administrator and permanent secretary,  became the first Benue State governor to successfully complete his two terms. 

The person who had held the closest record to that was Mr Aper Aku who was governor from 1979-1983. Aku had just completed a year from his renewed four year term when the Buhari Military Coup of December 1983, displaced him. Akume successfully ran his first term as governor from 1999-2003 and second term ,  2003-2007.

In 2007, Akume didn't only make the history of completion of two terms,  he set two more records that have not be broken by any one yet. He installed his successor ,  Dr Gabriel Suswam and retired back to the Senate. 

In 2015, Dr Gabriel Suswam , CON,  became the first  person to break Akume's first record. Suswam , who Akume aided to be governor in 2007 , had run for his first term from 2007-2011 and his second term from 2011-2015. He although could not install a successor and further went to the Senate as his predecessor had done in 2007. 

Although Suswam had actually had those plans. The Senate was argued to have been  zoned to the Kwande section in 2015,  but Suswam secured the nomination of his party PDP in 2015 and had,  amongst many aspirants ,  chosen Dr Terhemen Tarzoor,  as his successor. He lost in the general election on both fronts . What went wrong for Suswam?  Why did he fail where Akume had won?   For Suswam,  2019 is all about attempting to solve these issues. Do the odds Favour him now? 

Suswam's inability to break his former master's records   in 2015, gave Akume another  opportunity to create another history which was  to install a second governor after him, Samuel Ortom. As 2019 approaches,  Akume who has unarguably emerged as the  political leader  of  Benue State , will wish to consolidate on this status. Will he be able to do that now?  

In 2019, the incumbent governor, Samuel Ortom  will be faced with that record which Aper Aku,   Akume and Suswam hold at the moment . The record of winning their second terms. Aku did in 1983, Akume in 2003 and Suswam in 2011. Of all the five democratically elected governors of Benue State,  it was only Late Moses Adasu who could not complete his first term,  not to talk of contesting a second one. The military involvement stalled Adasu's chances. 

Ortom, will he like Aku,  Akume and Suswam win in 2019 or like Adasu, have just a term?  

In the concluding part of this article we shall look at,  "2019: Akume's Model,  Suswam's mistakes and Ortom's Chances " keep a date with me.