Senator Abba Moro speaks on Apa State creation, security, future of Benue South [FULL INTERVIEW]

The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro, has outlined his ongoing efforts to secure the creation of Apa State and drive development across Benue South Senatorial District.

Speaking during an interview with The Conversation, a programme monitored on IDOMA TELEVISION, Moro highlighted his legislative achievements, interventions in health, education, and infrastructure, as well as concerns over the state government’s neglect of his constituency.

Excerpts 

You have been clamouring for the creation of Apa State. So far, how have your efforts progressed in getting that done, sir?

The creation of Apa State is actually not about me; it is about us. So far, we are at the level of the Constitution Review Committee, which has invited proposals from various groups agitating for the creation of states in their respective areas. As you rightly pointed out, the creation of Apa State is one of them.

So far, the Review Committee has accepted that six or seven states may be recommended for creation. Seven, because the Southeast currently has five states, while other zones have six states and the Northwest has seven. In the wisdom of the committee, an additional state should be created in the Southeast to bring its number to six, and one additional state should also be created in each of the six geopolitical zones. That is where we are at the moment.

At this point, what I can say is that the creation of Apa State is in contention for the North Central slot. A sizable number of people from other states have shown sympathy for its creation. I sincerely believe that with a more aggressive application of effort, Apa State will secure the ticket from the North Central. We are hopeful and excitedly looking forward to that.

Benue State has faced serious security challenges in recent times, including farmer-herder clashes and kidnappings. How have you used your office to address these issues, sir?

Thank you very much. Security is everybody’s business. That is why the National Orientation Agency says, “If you see something, say something.” One vital component of tackling insecurity is intelligence gathering, which involves collecting credible information about the activities of those involved in security breaches.

Many people insist that a senator should play a big role in addressing insecurity. However, governance operates at several levels, and the Constitution assigns specific responsibilities. The protection of lives and property is primarily the responsibility of the executive arm of government. That is why the President is the Chief Security Officer of Nigeria, and the Governor is the Chief Security Officer of the state, receiving security votes monthly to carry out that responsibility. The same applies to local government chairmen.

As a legislator, my core responsibility is to make laws for the good governance of the state. However, as a representative of the people, I am deeply concerned about insecurity in my constituency. I have moved about 11 motions on insecurity affecting Benue South. Whenever there has been a breach of security in any part of the district, whether in Okokolo, Ogbaulu, Ikobi, Igbobi, Obi, Ogbaadibo, Otukpo, I have always visited to help mitigate the consequences.

I have also participated in debates aimed at establishing an appropriate security architecture to tackle insecurity in Nigeria. I will continue to push for regulatory legislation that will enable the executive to perform its responsibilities effectively, especially in addressing the recurring farmer-herder clashes that have plagued Benue South.

You are now more than halfway into your second term. Could you highlight your major accomplishments in the Senate that have directly impacted the people of Benue South?

Yes, I am more than halfway into my second term, and so far, we have made tremendous efforts to remain relevant to our people. As I said earlier, the primary responsibility of a legislator is lawmaking.

So far, about five of our bills have been passed into law. Among them are:

The Federal University of Health Sciences Bill, which is now law.

The Federal College of Agricultural Technology and the Federal College of Agriculture and Technology, which have been passed and assented to by the President.

We also have in the pipeline the Federal University Teaching Hospital Bill for Otukpo. In addition, we sponsored a bill to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to enable the creation of Apa State. We have also proposed amendments to the Electoral Act to make the electoral process more transparent and credible.

Beyond that, we have passed over 15 motions and raised about five petitions on behalf of our people.

However, one of the most crucial aspects of my work in the Senate has been the facilitation of projects to our zone. During our campaign, I promised that with my experience, as a former local government chairman, chairman of university governing councils, Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Director-General of Senator David Mark’s campaign organization, I would be able to open doors, even without keys.

By the grace of God, as Minority Leader of the 10th Senate, I have been able to navigate effectively and ensure that impactful projects are executed in the Benue South Senatorial District.

So if you go to Ado, for instance, our legacy health center is out there. It has become virtually operational. We’ve been able to also rehabilitate some bridges within the communities. For instance, the bridge that links main Ador to Ezza Ezekuna has been rehabilitated. We’re thinking that we should reconstruct it very soon. We’ve been able to construct several schools in Ador, especially in Ezza Ezekuna, that have been completed:

• Two blocks of three classrooms have been completed.

• We have a block of three classrooms constructed in Ogege Ward of Ado Local Government.

• A few other items of solar lighting and the rest of them have been installed in the area.

• Donation of transformers to Igumale and Utonkon.
  

If you come to Agatu, of course, I can tell you for free that one of the first areas that we intervened in the life of the Agatu people is the distribution of hospital equipment and drugs. We have constructed some boreholes in Usha, Obagaji and others. 

They are working. We also constructed the health center in Ogbaulu. The contract for the reconstruction of Osigbudu-Ogbagulu Road is in progress any moment from now, as the contractor is mobilizing to the site. 

We have proposed the reconstruction of a block of three classrooms in Osigbudu and Aku, all in Agatu Local Government. Transformers have been donated to Engla and Usha. And so, like they say, it’s work in progress. That’s right.

If you come to Apa Local Government, we had a health center at Ankpali. We brought electricity to Ankpali, all in the local tool of Apa Local Government. We also constructed a block of three classrooms in Ojantele, again in Apa Local Government. 

Now we have a proposal for the construction of a skills acquisition center in Ugbokpo in Apa Local Government. 

Any moment from now, the contractor will be mobilizing to the site. We have completed the electrification of Igoro in Apa Local Government too. Any moment from now, we should be ready to commission that project. One of the few issues that we have raised in Afa, we are continuing to implement.

If you come down to Obi, of course, it is no longer news that we constructed a road linking the roundabout to the general hospital. We constructed:

• A borehole in place.

• A borehole in Igori.

• Reconstruction of a road from Otakini to Obarike.
  

All that is on the electoral promises that we made to them. We are electrifying Oto and Ublegi electricity lines. 

The Ago electricity project is ongoing there. 

And, of course, in Ogbadibo, Orokam, Owukpa, and Otukpa, we distributed over 200 solar lights.

One of the electricity projects that we started, which ordinarily should have been completed, is the Adupi electricity project in Orokam. I can assure you that between now and Christmas, definitely that community will have electricity by our intervention.

If you come to Ohimini, a few things are ongoing there. We are constructing a road, and we constructed the health center there. 

We have also constructed the health clinic at Agadaba, also in Ohimini. At the moment, we are undertaking electricity projects in one of the communities. There’s a second community there, Oyangade in Adamkali, where we are also undertaking an electricity project. 

Those are, again, some of the few areas of intervention that we have embarked on in Ohimini Local Government.

If you come from Ohimini to Oju Local Government, we have a health center at Methodist Mass in Adenu. We are trying to reconstruct the dilapidated health center at Okudu. Like I said, we have a block of three classrooms in Ainu, a ward now completed and awaiting commissioning. 

We have a bridge project, which was partly constructed in my first tenure. The second segment of it has now been contracted, and the grading of that road is in progress.

We were able to initiate the distribution of solar poles to Idili and some other communities in Oju Local Government. 

And like we say, a major project that we are undertaking in Oju Local Government now is the electrification of Uwokwu, which was stalled by the agitation of a particular community that insisted that unless they were given electricity, they would not allow electricity to pass through their community. That’s correct. 

We have resolved the issue with the community now, and any moment from now, the contractor will mobilize back to the site. We hope sincerely that by Christmas, the Uwokwu communities will have electricity.

If you move down to Okpoku, several projects:

• A block of three classrooms in Odessasa.

• A block of four classrooms in Ondo.

• Reconstruction of internal roads in Odessasa.
  

 And then if you come to Otukpo, two health centers in Ogobia and Adoka are under construction. 

We are embarking on the gigantic reconstruction of the Adoka Dam, and hopefully that should come through as quickly as possible. The list is endless, but frankly, we have a compendium of the list in the office here, which can be given to you any moment you want it. 

But the emphasis here is that, whether it is in the area of legislation or in the area of facilitation of projects to our various communities, I think this office has exhibited a desire to ensure that the Benue South Senatorial District is not left out in the allocation of resources and the execution of projects across the country.

Looking back at your previous tenure, the first tenure, and now the second tenure has gone beyond halftime. What lessons do you think will guide you when elected for your third tenure and help shape your way of legislation?

Well, if there is a lesson that I’ve learned from my first tenure and this tenure, it’s the fact that the people of the Benue South Senatorial District actually have demonstrated some penchant for unnecessary and mischievous castigation of efforts. For instance, I can tell you for free now that a group of people from Oju have petitioned a contractor to the EFCC without first availing themselves of the opportunity of finding things out from this office or from the agency where projects are domiciled.

I can tell you also that even a highly placed person in Oju, who happens to be a member of the National Assembly, had gone out there with a narrative that I was allocated three billion naira to construct the road from Otukpo to Oju, that I had collected the money, and that no appreciable work had been done. And those are distractions that we don’t need.

Those are distractions that we don’t need because I can tell you for free here that the process of allocation of envelopes to legislators is a transparent one. 

And once these envelopes are given, the legislators choose which projects and where to put them in the various constituencies. And then, of course, the projects are domiciled in agencies for supervision and award of contracts. That is how far the legislator is involved in it.

And so, when you go out there and make unnecessary insinuations that serve as drawbacks to the efforts that are being made towards the development of our people, they are certainly doing a disservice to our people.

I’ve also come to the inevitable conclusion that when avoidable criticisms and assaults are aimed at legislators, especially from the Benue South Senatorial District, they are mostly from citizens of the Benue South Senatorial District, because you will also discover that some other person from some other place would wish that we came from their own place.

And so the lesson there, therefore, is to refuse to seek validation from people who set out deliberately to undermine the genuine efforts that we are making here and focus first of all on the reason why we are here. 

Which is basically to address the concerns. That’s why we are here, which is basically to address the concerns, the aspirations, and the expectations of our people, ensuring that we carry out the desires and aspirations of our people to a logical conclusion.

Now, posters flying online indicate that you are already eyeing a third term for the Senate position. Do these people have your approval for what they are spreading online?

I’m not sure that anybody has asked my opinion as to what 2027 holds for all of us, before putting up what they are putting up. But it is only natural and fair to think that if I am doing a second term in the Senate, and there is what is called a third term, the logical conclusion, or the logical extension of my presence here for a second term, is the third term. But quite frankly, I want to concentrate on what I am doing now for the people. Luckily, our democratic process has timelines. And so, at the appropriate time, if I am running for a third term, I will let our people know. And if our people agree that I can run for a third term, I will run for a third term. But for the time being, my concentration is on the second term.

Now, the construction of the Otukpo-Oju road seems to be stalled or delayed for now. Can you tell us what is delaying the project at the moment?

I have told you that the job is delayed, no doubt about it, if you recap. And that is the reason why in 2025, I tried to unbundle the whole project by segmenting it into Otukpo-Obi and Obi-Oju. The main reason, quite frankly, is that funds have not been released from the Ministry of Finance to the contractors. Unfortunately, one or two of the contractors involved are not buoyant enough to carry out the project on their own, awaiting payment. But some steps have been taken now. Some funds have been released to the contractors. 

The contractor for Otukpo-Obi has assured me that this week he would have mobilized to the site to start the asphalting of the section that he has constructed. 

And the contractor for Obi-Oju has also indicated a willingness to flag off the Obi-Oju section by Wednesday. So, by the time these twin activities pick up, I hope that doubting Thomases or cynics who think that the road will never be done will see some actions taking place there. And by the grace of God, before the end of the year, an appreciable job would have been done on that road.

Your predecessor, Senator David Mark, recently said that four years is not enough for a lawmaker to make any meaningful impact. Do you agree with that, sir?

Well, Senator David Mark—I have not read that—but if he has said that, then he’s speaking from the hindsight of experience. That’s right, because Senator David Mark spent 20 years in the Senate, and eight of those 20 years he spent as the presiding officer, the president of the Senate of the 6th and 7th Senate. 

I think he is speaking from the hindsight of experience. And if you ask me, quite frankly, I want to say that, yes, for four years, or even eight years, maybe the executive, who is in charge of the resources of a state, can do some appreciable things for the people. But if it has to do with the Senate, where even the rules need time to be studied and applied, I agree completely with the former Senate president, or Senate president emeritus, as we used to call him, that one term, two terms, or even three terms are certainly not adequate for a legislator to completely and holistically attempt a solution to the problems of the constituency.

You seem not to be very okay with some of the policies of the present governor of your state. Many people even think that you probably don’t like the governor of the state. How true is this?

Well, I don’t have anything against Alia. I didn’t know him before he became governor, and I’m sure he didn’t know me. So we don’t have any serious issues together like that. In the beginning, I was prepared to work with him on the advice of the former governor of the state, Gabriel Suswam. I advised my boys, our boys, our assembly members, to work with him. 

Even in the choice of a speaker of the House of Assembly, the people of the Benue South Senatorial District went all the way to work with him to support him in producing a member as the speaker of the House of Assembly.

But all of a sudden, they say power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I think that Governor Alia had been corrupted absolutely by power, and he decided to turn his back on the people who assisted him in the beginning to give his government a sure foundation.

Looking at two years in the office and discovering that Governor Alia had not done anything for the people of the Benue South Senatorial District, as the representative of the people, I had to rise to the occasion to let him know that we are also part of Benue State. He has been doing things in some other places, at least on the pages of newspapers, but nothing of that nature has happened in Benue South. Governor Alia cannot point to any specific project that he has started in Benue South and completed. He hasn’t.

Insecurity has been a serious threat to the lives of our people in Benue South. Governor Alia has never, to the best of my knowledge, intervened. Governor Alia has never visited any part of Benue South Senatorial District that has been attacked by Fulani herdsmen or where communal clashes have occurred, in which as many as 22 people have been killed. That is certainly unacceptable, because we hear from other clans where they insist that one life matters.

That’s right. And so, if one life is lost in any particular community, you see governors and leaders of the communities rushing down to show some level of empathy for the people. This is certainly not Alia’s code; he doesn’t show empathy to anybody.

He’s not doing anything for Benue South, and I challenge anybody to come out. Not propaganda, pictures, and the rest of them, not auto projects that they claim to have been doing. We want to see specifically, let the representative of the governor lead media men to look at or see what projects they are doing in any part of Benue South Senatorial District.

Only recently, Governor Alia announced the construction of several roads in Gboko. He mentioned the roads. Mentioned the amount of money allocated to these roads. But when it came to Benue South Senatorial District, what did he say? He said 57 kilometers of roads are going to be under construction. 

Maybe one of them is the Highway Ihipa road project that I am undertaking, which I am going to asphalt. The local government surrogate went and started grading last week. Maybe that’s one of the 57 kilometers of roads that he’s talking about there.

Quite frankly, I am not happy with the governor, and I want to say it without any fear of contradiction here, that for as long as he doesn’t regard Benue South Senatorial District as a part of Benue State to benefit from the common resources that are available to us, I would not like it.

I can tell you for free here that I have written for the allocations that have accrued to Benue State, to local governments in Benue State, from the Federal Ministry of Finance. By the time I get it, I will let the Benue people, the Benue South people, know how much has accrued to the Benue State government for all of us, and how much has accrued to all the local governments for all of us. Of course, questions will be asked. Alia will have to account for the money that he has received on our behalf.

From what you have said so far, are you in any way saying that Benue South won’t support Governor Alia in 2027?

If it continues like this, I’ll mobilize my people against his re-election.

Now, as a leader, we know that… straightforward. Now, as a leader, we know that one day you will think about handing over the baton of leadership. Who are you at the moment grooming as the next Benue South Abba Moro?

Well, nobody groomed me to become a senator. I’m not grooming anybody to become senator. If you want to become a senator, you prepare to become a senator. If Benue South people support you, I will support you.