By Winnie Onu, Makurdi
Dr. Mathias Byuan, Executive Director of Housing, Finance and Accounts at the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), has declared his intention to contest the 2027 governorship election in Benue State, promising to run a welfare-driven administration that will fight hunger, poverty, and insecurity.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media, Akange Nyagba, Byuan said his aspiration is fueled by what he described as a governance gap that has left many Benue residents unable to meet basic life challenges.
He pledged to move beyond the traditional focus on salaries, pensions, and urban infrastructure to introduce deliberate agricultural schemes, skills acquisition programmes, grants, and empowerment initiatives targeted at artisans, farmers, and non-salary earners across the state.
“There’s hunger in the state and poverty has reduced the people to mere spectators as major contracts are awarded to companies that outsource labour, leading to capital flight,” Byuan stated.
He vowed to establish a Ministry of Welfare and Empowerment that would serve as a human development hub rather than just distributing relief materials, stressing that his administration would re-engineer security, improve rural roads, and stimulate agricultural growth.
Byuan also recalled that during recent visits to Buruku, Konshisha, and Ogbadibo, he witnessed firsthand the level of deprivation in rural communities, echoing recent concerns by the Tor Tiv, Prof. James Iorzua Ayatse, who lamented the widespread hunger in Tivland.
He said if elected governor, his government would deliberately close the gap between physical infrastructure and human welfare in order to restore dignity and independence to the people.
