Benue State in the news: Ten things trending in Benue this Friday

By Ekre Christian

Good morning,  here are ten things currently trending in Benue state this beautiful Friday morning.

1.  As reactions continue to greet the removal of Hon.Chris Adabah Abah as the lawmaker representing the Ado, Ogbadibo and Okpokwu Federal Constituency, Idoma natives have threw their weight behind the ousted lawmaker, saying that the outcome of the judgment would not deter them from supporting their son.

 Some persons who spoke with our correspondent in Otukpo lambasted Saleh for betraying his own brother, asking him to buckle up and stop warming bench in the house.
2. A Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi has dismissed a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Benue State challenging the nomination of Samuel Ortom as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress.

PDP in the suit alleged that there was no primary.
It asked the INEC not to forward the name of Ortom as APC governorship candidate.
When the matter was brought before the court on Thursday, counsel to the plaintiff, Barrister Andrew Wombo requested to withdraw the case.

3. The Benue House of Assembly has passed the state’s 2015 appropriation bill of N97.9 billion into law.
The bill was passed at plenary in Makurdi on Thursday.
During plenary, the Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Mr Ianna Jato, told the House that the recurrent expenditure was N59. 07 billion while capital expenditure was N38. 8 billion.
He said also that the budget had an inbuilt deficit of N7, 76 billion.

4. Magistrates Court in Makurdi, Benue, on Thursday ordered the remand of three men in prison custody over the alleged murder of a 19-year old man.
The three accused persons: Samaila Salisu, (20); Mohammed Abubakar, (20) and Abubakar Idris, (25), reside in Wadata area of Makurdi.

5. The lawmaker, representing Buruku Federal Constituency in Benue State, Orker Jev,  has called on well-meaning kinsmen to pray for his mother, Mama Mwuese, who was whisked away by some gunmen last night.

It was gathered that Mama Mwuese was abducted by the gunmen om her family house in Tombo on Wednesday evening.

Confirming the sad incident via a post om Facebook, the visibly worried lawmaker said he was yet ti make any contact with the abductors at the moment.

6. The Idoma community has hailed the Federal Executive Council for the approval of the immediate conversion of the College of Health Science, Otukpo (formerly of the University of Agriculture  Makurdi) to an autonomous full fledged Federal University of Health Sciences. The first of its kind in West Africa.
Some visibly elated indigenes who spoke with our reporters described the decision as a welcome development, urging them to make it a reality.

7. Determined to make Benue-state a hub for investors, Benue State Governor-elect, Dr Samuel Ortom, yesterday visited a Japanese firm in Abuja.
This is coming few weeks after the incoming governor had travelled to China to woo investors visited the Nigerian office of Japanese International Cooperation Agency, JICA to seek partnership in Water, Sanitation, Education and infrastructural development.

8. Gunmen on Wednesday killed 13 persons at a crowded village market in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.
The armed men stormed the Kyado market, a boundary town between Benue and Taraba states after they sighted their target around the area.

9. A group under the aegis of Tiv Youth Assembly Voice has called on the senate president, David Mark to back his kinsman, George Akume to take over the mantle of leadership from him as the leader of the national assembly.

The group in a statement made available to IDOMA VOICE noted that already, the chasm which existed between the two major ethnic groups of Tiv and Idoma is already closing with the recent wind of change which has swept across the state and the nation, where the Idoma and Tiv all supported one party and proved that they can be united.

10. In entertainment world, music star, Innocent Ujah Idibia, famously known as Tuface is currently under fire over his constant attack on politicians
Certain Eric Amodu, who claimed to be a ‘friend’ or ‘associate’ of 2face has accused of him of hypocrisy after he blasted Nigerian politicians and leaders on May 18, 2015.