By Winnie Onu, Makurdi
The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).in Benue State at the weekend elected new state executives to steer the affairs of the association.
Electoral Committee Chairman, James Aloho, while declaring the results in Makurdi, noted that all 30 candidates were returned unopposed.
Aloho, who also chairs the Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI) in Benue, said the positions were evenly zoned across the state’s three senatorial districts.
He declared Ernest Atoji as the new state chairman, while John Vor emerged deputy chairman, Godwin Timiun as secretary, Benedict Utso as treasurer, and Abraham Mee as financial secretary.
Others include Iorkohol Ijir, organising secretary, and Geoffrey Iorvenda, legal adviser, among others.
AFAN’s National President, Farouk Mudi, who observed the election, commended the Benue chapter for conducting a peaceful and transparent process.
Represented by the National Secretary, Yunusa Halidu, Mudi urged the new officials to unite and strengthen the association to restore Benue’s status as Nigeria’s “food basket.”
He also emphasised the need for proper membership registration for effective coordination and encouraged farmers to remain apolitical within the association.
Governor Hyacinth Alia, represented by his Technical Adviser on Agriculture, Danjuma Adejo, congratulated the new leadership and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to supporting farmers in the state.
Alia described AFAN as a key stakeholder in Benue’s agricultural sector and pledged to create an enabling environment that would help farmers become millionaires and billionaires through improved productivity and access to government interventions.
Earlier, the Transition Committee Chairman, Abel Owoicho, said all AFAN members in the state had been duly registered and noted that it was historic for the Benue South Senatorial District to produce the state chairman for the first time.
The ceremony concluded with the swearing-in of the newly elected officials.
