A former Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Barr. Sam Ode, has emerged the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State.
Ode, a native of Idoma from Otukpo Local Government Area of the state, would now be the running mate of the APC gubernatorial flag bearer, Barr. Emmanuel Jime, instead of Barr. Vembeh Gbihi Isaac whose name earlier appeared on the list released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Daily Trust gathered that the list by the INEC which indicated that the 40-year-old, Isaac, would deputise the APC’s governorship candidate, was a temporal development as the party at the time the commission published the names was yet to resolve whom to choose between the ex-minister and Peace Corps’s Dickson Akor for the position.
But, the Acting State Publicity Secretary of APC, James Ornguga, told our correspondent yesterday that the party finally announced its decision to settle for Ode on Friday.
The party’s decision, however, finally put to rest the dust that the issue had raised in the political space of the state following opposition parties mocking the APC for its inability to pick a running mate without much ado.