Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Douglas Pepe has urged the people of Benue North-East Senatorial District, also known as Zone A, to remain united to overcome the challenges facing the area.

Zone A consists of seven LGAs: Katsina-Ala, Logo, Ukum, Konshisha, Vandeikya, Kwande, and Ushongo.

Mr Pepe gave the advice on Friday in Makurdi when members of the Kwande Journalists Forum (KJF), led by their chairman, Henry Ibya, paid him a solidarity visit.

The legal luminary, who is contesting the senatorial seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said unity was key to tackling the zone’s problems, including underdevelopment, insecurity, lack of federal presence, and poor economic empowerment.

“In unity there is strength. We can surmount all our challenges only if we stand together,” he said.

Mr Pepe accused some politicians of exploiting division among the three blocs in the zone—Jechira, Kwande, and Sankera—to serve their selfish interests.

“Over the years, politicians have played on disunity by pitching one bloc against another to achieve their aims.

“They benefit from the division. When they want to accomplish a goal, they set Jechira against Kwande or Kwande against Sankera,” he said.

He described the tactics as a divide-and-rule approach, noting that it had kept the area backward for too long.

Mr Pepe, however, expressed optimism that the people were now more politically aware and ready to resist such manipulation.

“There is a kind of political renaissance in Zone A. People are becoming wiser to the antics of politicians,” he said.

He commended the growing spirit of unity among the people and urged them to sustain it in their political decisions.

“Let this renewed sense of togetherness guide our choices as we work to build a stronger Zone A,” Mr Pepe added. 

(NAN)