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Tag: stakeholder engagement

  • Olofu Engages Benue South Stakeholders in Lagos Over Senate Agenda

    Olofu Engages Benue South Stakeholders in Lagos Over Senate Agenda

    Breaking from conventional campaign outreach, Dr. David Olofu at the weekend used a Lagos engagement to deepen consultations for his Senate race, convening diaspora stakeholders alongside leaders from the home front in the Benue South Senatorial District.

    The meeting brought together representatives from the district’s nine local government areas, including community leaders, professionals, retired public officers, party stakeholders, and members of the Benue South diaspora, to examine development priorities and the future of representation.

    Addressing the gathering, Olofu said his decision to seek elective office followed extensive consultations and growing dissatisfaction with the state of representation in the district. He described Lagos as a strategic venue, noting its position as Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre and home to a significant population of Benue South indigenes.

    According to him, consultations with traditional rulers, professionals, and grassroots leaders informed a legislative agenda anchored on four pillars, People, Power, Prosperity, and Progress, aimed at converting the district’s agricultural, human, and economic potential into sustainable development.

    He stressed that effective representation must translate into equitable policies, balanced development, and fair resource allocation across all communities.

    Olofu also announced plans to establish the Benue South Peoples Assembly (BSPA) and the Benue South Peoples Council (BSPC), which he said would institutionalise inclusive, bottom-up policymaking and sustained citizen participation.

    He outlined twelve priority areas for legislative intervention, including agriculture and food security, education, health, entrepreneurship and youth empowerment, ICT and innovation, infrastructure and road networks, local government reforms, security and peacebuilding, law and justice, industry and energy partnerships, diaspora engagement, and women and sports development.

    The event featured goodwill messages from several leaders. Chief Abu Abdul opened the session with prayers, while Rt. Hon. John Ngbede, who led the delegation, said the engagement was notable for its inclusiveness, with representatives from various Idoma dialect groups and communities present.

    Former Secretary to the State Government, Prof. David Salihu, and governorship aspirant Dr. Peter Adejo commended the consultative approach and stressed the need for leadership grounded in broad stakeholder input.

    Dr. Olofu Addressing the Stakeholders at Ikeja, Lagos

    Other speakers included Chief Patrick Ogbu; former Okpokwu Local Government Chairman Barr. Jacob Ogwuche; former Oju Local Government Chairman Hon. Edwin Okpe; retired Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs Odaudu Salihu; retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police Tony Olofu; Dr. Michael Adah, Chairman of Opiatoha K’Idoma Lagos; retired Rear Admiral Andy Onoja Odeh; Dr. Mike Adah, General Secretary of Opiatoha Club Lagos; and Godwin Onyeke, President of Okpotuche Club Lagos.

    An elder statesman and party stalwart, Alhaji Usman Lungu, urged loyalists to mobilise effectively for the aspirant’s success, pledging to work across party lines toward that objective.

    Also speaking, Chief Luke Akubo, the Och’Idoma in Lagos, offered prayers and blessings for Olofu, praising his philanthropy, governance experience, and commitment to the emancipation of the Idoma nation.

    Popular activist Chris Adaba Aba, also known as Mad Lion, described the engagement as a call for Idoma unity, while a prominent woman leader and community organiser, Madam Cynthia Egwa, said the consultations were unprecedented, citing years of neglect of the senatorial district.

    Some speakers likened the consultations to a “know-your-customer” governance model, arguing that understanding community needs should precede policy formulation.

    The Lagos engagement concluded with prayers and goodwill messages and forms part of Olofu’s wider consultation tour across Benue State as he seeks the Senate seat on the platform of the African Democratic Congress.

  • Olofu to Hold Diaspora Dialogue in Lagos as Part of Senate Bid

    Olofu to Hold Diaspora Dialogue in Lagos as Part of Senate Bid

    … ADC senatorial aspirant to host focus group discussion ahead of Benue South party primaries

    In line with a growing shift toward participatory and forward-looking politics, David Olofu, senatorial aspirant for the Benue South Senatorial District is expected to continue his stakeholder engagement drive this Saturday with a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) involving Idoma socio-cultural groupings based in Lagos.

    Dr. Olofu is a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

    The engagement, which will form part of Olofu’s evolving bottom-up consultative strategy, is aimed at harnessing diaspora perspectives to shape responsive representation ahead of the forthcoming elections.

    Political observers note that such consultations increasingly reflect a transition toward citizen-driven politics, where policy priorities are informed by structured dialogue with constituents.

    According to the campaign, the Lagos-based Idoma diaspora is expected to contribute views on governance, development priorities, and effective legislative representation for Benue South.

    The aspirant has maintained that opinions formed within the diaspora often influence voting behavior and political conversations at the grassroots level back home.

    The FGD is also anticipated to provide a platform for building sustainable interpersonal relationships between the aspirant and a broad spectrum of his constituents, while encouraging participatory engagement beyond the electoral cycle.

    Discussions are expected to touch on governance innovation, youth inclusion, economic development, and future-ready leadership.

    Olofu is expected to reiterate his commitment to inclusive, transparent, and people-centered leadership, with assurances that similar stakeholder engagements will be extended to other demographic and professional groups as part of a long-term vision for effective representation in the National Assembly.

  • IPMAN running a parallel government- CSOs

    *Oppose alleged plan to increase petrol price 

    The coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Friday tackled the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) over allegations that it was planning to increase the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

    Others who signed the statement were officials of Oil and Gas Transparency and Advocacy Group, Civil Society Coalition for Economic Development (CED), Centre for Citizens Rights, Centre for Good Governance Advocacy and Action against Corruption in Nigeria, among several others.

    In a statement jointly signed by the Convener, Dr Basil Musa and Co-Convener, Malam Haruna Maigida, in Abuja on behalf of others, the coalition said that IPMAN was running a parallel government which is inflicting untold hardship on Nigerians.

    The CSOs said that information reaching them was to the effect that IPMAN was planning to increase petrol price to N700 per litre, a move which they vowed to resist by picketing IPMAN members’ filling stations across the country.

    They accused the IPMAN of running a parallel government and inflicting pain on ordinary Nigerians through their unilateral adjustment of the price of petroleum.

    They described the planned increment as unacceptable and called on the Federal Government to stop IPMAN from its alleged profiteering at the expense of ordinary Nigerians.

    The CSOs said the move was an economic sabotage, coming at a time Nigerians are still trying to come out of the “price shock”, occasioned by the increment on May 29.

    They said that Nigerians were already passing through difficult times over the recently adjusted fuel pump price with no palliative measures yet in place.

    They vowed to mobilise their members and other stakeholders across the 36 states of the federation to embark on a protest, adding that the protest would target shutting down filling stations nationwide. 

    They added that Nigerians could not afford to be railroaded by IPMAN, in an alleged contraction of the position of the Federal Government on petroleum prices.

    “As a Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), we are monitoring events and the proposed fuel pump hike to N700 per litre by IPMAN and we say it is unacceptable.

    “If the government does not caution IPMAN, we see it as a deliberate collusion to drive Nigerians into unmitigated difficulties. 

    “As CSOs, we will not sit and watch that happen. We will mobilise Nigerians into a street protest and that should be taken from us. 

    “We watched the removal of the fuel subsidy regime by President Bola Tinubu in his inaugural address on May 29 and we take the dare consequences as part of the sacrifice, awaiting when the government would have settled to come up with ameliorative measures for the citizens.

    “But for IPMAN to adjust fuel pump price will stoke protests because it is not in the interest of Nigerians,’ they said.

    They said if IPMAN achieved the proposed increase, it would amount to over 451 per cent above what Tinubu Administration met in the office, thereby raising the fear of hyperinflation on the cost of goods and services.

    They added that “IPMAN was largely behind the mystery litres of petrol consumption that suddenly dropped from 66 million per day to 40 million after fuel subsidy was removed.

    “We advise the marketers association to brace up for a change as sharp practices in the downstream sector can no longer be condoned.”