Dr Paul Orhi Speaks On Governorship Ambition With The PDP

Dr Paul Orhi

One of the brilliant leading Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),governorship candidate Dr Paul Orhi has this to say concerning his ambition. Read press release below 👇

"A GOOD MAN HUMBLY BOWS OUT!!! BENUE AGAIN LOST AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GREATNESS.

I BOW TO BENUE PDP ZONING ARRANGEMENT, STRONGLY COMMEND MY TEAM AND THANK MY DIE-HARD SUPPORTERS ALL OVER THE WORLD

I want to use this opportunity to inform my supporters, my admirers, my friends and the millions of Nigerians, especially those of Benue State origin who looked up to me as their hope for a GREATER Benue that after very in-depth and rigorous consultations and political analysis I hereby suspend my quest to govern Benue State on the platform of our great party, the PDP, 2023. Consequently I hereby withdraw as governorship aspirant of the party in the forthcoming gubernatorial primaries. This is a very painful decision for me, my family and millions of my admirers and supporters in Benue and across the globe, especially considering all the dashed hopes, the huge resources spent and the sacrifices made. But it is the best decision at this time. 

I was born and raised under very humble beginnings. Growing up as a very poor child in Lessel, Ushongo Local Government Area, I could hardly be accepted into any secondary school even when I clearly passed their admission tests simply because my poor parents could not afford to pay the required deposit and school fees. I therefore always prayed that God would one day grant my heart desire by placing me in a position that would enable me bring about a formidable change and significantly alleviate or reduce poverty to a tolerable level by enhancing the quality of lives of Benue indigenes.

Despite my poverty God graciously made it possible for me to acquire very sound education in the most developed countries of this world. I not only achieved my life-time dream of becoming a medical doctor but also obtained a PhD in Medicine at the relatively tender age of 32. After working ten years as a visiting Biomedical Scientist in Texas, USA, I studied law full-time and obtained a Juris Doctor, got called to the Texas Bar and started my Law Firm in Houston, Texas when I was called to serve as the DG of NAFDAC. 

That position immediately afforded me the opportunity that I had always dreamt about, to assist the poor, vulnerable, and less privileged. I used my position and the opportunity in securing hundreds of federal jobs for people; gave more than a thousand scholarships and student assistance to needy students cut across the length and breadth of the entire Benue State, with more than 30 of them trained in foreign countries; I renovated schools and healthcare centers and sponsored free medical interventions; and I also assisted orphanages and IDPs with relief materials worth tens of millions of naira. 

My only reason for joining the Benue State Governorship race has been to place my great wealth of experience, competence, national and international exposure and passion for development at the service of Benue people to turn the enormous agricultural, cultural and human resources of Benue State to enrich and greatly improve the quality of lives of Benue people. It has always been for the people of Benue State, and not for self. 

I am running this governorship race for the second time. The last time I offered myself was in the 2019 elections. I presented a very robust economic and human development agenda, traversed the length and breadth of Benue State and raised the hopes of the people for a greater Benue. I spent all my resources running into hundreds of millions of naira, went deep into debt and even almost lost my life. I purchased the Governorship Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms, was successfully screened and cleared to run at the primaries. But I was overwhelmingly rejected and I lost woefully at the primaries mainly because, as it was explained to me, I had been born in the wrong side of Benue State and so I came from the wrong zone.

This time again I launched my campaign for a GREATER BENUE with high hopes. We built strong and formidable support groups from the good people of Benue and Nigeria at large. I spent all my resources, zealously promoted both the party and my candidacy. With the overwhelming support and unequalled love from my Ushongo grassroots I even emerged amongst the top 4 from a pool of 36 aspirants. Just when I thought that I was cruising to victory the goal post was changed. The evil zoning suddenly reared it’s ugly head again and I was zoned out of the governorship race at the very last minute. Still hoping that this nightmare would soon clear I went ahead and purchased the N21.5 million naira governorship Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms, paid another N1 million administrative charge, successfully underwent the party’s screening and was cleared for the primaries. 

But with the odds so stacked against me by the almighty evil zoning I do not foresee any chance of success at the forthcoming delegate primaries. This is why I have decided to withdraw from the race.

For me it has not been a do or die affair, and as long as I choose to remain in the PDP I have to abide by its decisions. I therefore bow to the party’s supremacy, accept its zoning arrangement and hereby voluntarily withdraw from the race in the interest of the party. I will however work hard to assist the party’s preferred candidates to win elections at all levels. 

I want to go on record here that in my view zoning is an evil instrument used to sacrifice merit. Particularly I find the zoning arrangement by the Benue PDP that instantly so late in the game excluded very competent Kwande, Konshisha, and Ushongo aspirants from the governorship race to be appalling, an afterthought, very painful and hard to swallow. But as a loyal PDP member I yield to party supremacy. 

The great Obi Egbuna, who I personally consider to be the father of African classical philosophy, in his book “ Destroy this Temple” once stated, and I hereby paraphrase him: “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will rebuild it. If I can’t my brothers will.” 

I suddenly woke up to the realization and my rudest shock that in Benue it is which zone you come from that matters and not what you can do for Benue. A typical Benue man would rather die from thirst than accept drinking water from a person that does not come from his immediate zone. Similarly he does not care whether the road is badly constructed or the house that he lives in and even the schools, hospitals, etc are badly constructed and poorly staffed and equipped as long as the person who is at the helm comes from his zone. It is all about zoning.

I believe in zoning too, and I notice that we all practice zoning in our individual lives. For example I have noticed that when we take our cars to the mechanic shop for repairs we look for the best mechanic and zone our car repairs to him. Likewise when we need medical attention we find out who is the best doctor for the condition and zone our treatment to that doctor. But somehow when it comes to appointing people into critical political offices where they will make very critical decisions concerning almost every aspect of our lives; our healthcare, education for our children, jobs for our teeming youths, etc we seem not to care about merit and competence. This is killing Benue State.

For Benue to move forward this ethnic unfair zoning arrangement based purely on primitive primordial sentiments must be replaced by merit-based zoning. That way every Benue citizen will feel included because you can find competent leadership material in every part of Benue, be it in JeKwande, JeSankara, Jemgbagh, JeMINDA, JeChira, JeIdoma, JeIgede, JeEtilo, JeJukun, JeNyifon, etc. It should not be about which tribe or part of Benue you come from but it should be about what can you offer to Benue? We are implementing the wrong zoning system. We need a zoning system that does not look at tribe, ethnicity, class, creed or intermediate areas, etc. but rather what the aspiring leader brings to the table to help Benue move forward to realize its huge potentials in human development.

I therefore seek to destroy this evil zoning system to replace it with the better and more progressive merit-based zoning that does not consider where you come from but rather solely what solutions you can profer for the myriad of economic, social and political problems bedeviling Benue State. If I can’t the teeming youths who I have inspired with my campaign messages of love, progress and economic development surely will. 

I want to commend my award-winning team and thank my supporters all over the world for the trust and relentless support that you gave me. Together, we established an unprecedented publicity, acceptability, and popularity in the state. It was a great and fulfilling time as we took our message of hope to the people of Benue State. I am grateful to you and cannot thank you enough.

I must particularly mention the vibrant Paul Orhii Vanguards (POV) with thousands of vibrant Benue youths who were so hopeful of a greater Benue. I want to assure you that our quest for a greater Benue remains alive. We have rather begun than ended what we began.

We may have lost out now temporarily but it is simply not our time. Like the Holy Bible says in John 3:27 “A man can receive nothing, except it is being given to him from heaven”.

I thank God for my lovely family, all that I have been able to achieve in my life, for the impact that I have been fortunate to make in many peoples lives and for bringing me this far in this governorship race. 

The fight for a greater Benue continues as long as I am alive. Any opportunity that I am given, I pledge to continue to fight for a GREATER Benue. The best platform to actualize this dream at this time is the PDP. Let’s stay in the fight until we win. We win when PDP wins

Thank you!

Paul Botwev Orhii, MD, JD, PhD (OON)

Former DG NAFDAC 

PDP Governorship Aspirant, Benue, 2023