The Benue State chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) on Friday elected new officials to run the affairs of the association.
Announcing the results in Makurdi, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Mr. James Aloho, said all 30 candidates were returned unopposed.
Aloho, who also serves as the State Chairman of the Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI), explained that the positions were evenly zoned across the three senatorial districts of the state.
He declared Pastor Ernest Atoji as the new State Chairman, with Mr. John Vor as Deputy Chairman, Prof. Godwin Timiun as Secretary, Mr. Benedict Utso as Treasurer, and Mr. Abraham Mee as Financial Secretary.
Others elected include Mrs. Iorkohol Ijir as Organising Secretary and Mr. Geoffrey Iorvenda as Legal Adviser, among others.
The National President of AFAN, Mr. Farouk Mudi, who observed the election, commended the Benue chapter for conducting a successful and peaceful exercise.
Mudi urged the newly elected officials to work as a team to strengthen the association and restore Benue’s agricultural prominence.
Represented by the National Secretary, Mr. Yunusa Halidu, Mudi emphasised that all members must be duly registered for effective coordination and inclusion in government interventions.
He stressed that while members were free to belong to any political party or religion, AFAN must remain apolitical, united, and focused on advancing the interests of all farmers.
In his goodwill message, Governor Hyacinth Alia reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to supporting farmers in the state.
Represented by his Technical Adviser on Agriculture, Mr. Danjuma Adejo, the governor encouraged the new AFAN leadership to leverage government programmes to boost productivity and income.
Alia described AFAN as a major stakeholder in Benue’s agricultural development and reiterated his vision to make farmers in the state “millionaires and billionaires.”
Earlier, the Transition Committee Chairman, Chief Abel Owoicho, said all AFAN members in Benue had been registered, noting that the state made history as the Benue South Senatorial District produced the state chairman for the first time.
The high point of the event was the swearing-in of the newly elected officials.
