Tobias Sylvester
Blessing Onuh-Mark, one of the daughters of immediate past President of the Senate, David Mark, has dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) barely two weeks after losing the party’s ticket for Otukpo/Ohimini Federal Constituency to her uncle, Johnson Egli Ahubi.
Ahubi is the current Deputy Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly.
It was gathered that Blessing, who is wife of the former Local Government chairman of Otukpo, Innocent Onuh, was advised to step aside for her uncle, Ahubi, but she refused.
Before the party’s primaries, Mrs. Onuh pitched her tent with Chief Mike Onoja, who also lost the Benue South Senatorial district ticket of the PDP to Abba Moro, former Interior Minister.
Few weeks after losing the PDP ticket, Onoja joined the Social Democratic Party where the former party’s senatorial flag bearer, Adakole Ijogi, stepped down for him.
A source hinted our reporter on Tuesday that Mrs. Onuh had equally picked the SDP ticket to slug it out in the 2019 general elections with his uncle, Ahubi, and other contenders. The source hinted this:
“The truth is, Blessing was not happy with the whole drama that played out. She is also not happy because her father did not use his influence to get her the ticket.
“But (Okpani) Mark told her to wait until 2023 but she refused. Senator Mark doesn’t want to impose his daughter on the people. Now, she has picked the SDP ticket with Mike Onoja who also decamped from PDP last week.”
A chieftain of the party in Benue South, who pleaded anonymity, described her exit as ‘immaterial’. The PDP chieftain told our reporter in Otukpo:
“She was not known before now as a member of the party, she was only riding on her father’s influence. Her defection is immaterial and we don’t care if she’s leaving or not.
“Well, it has not been made known but I don’t think it is worth discussing.”
Dropped waivers to peolpe