DAVID MARK APPEALS FOR SUPPORT FOR RE-ELECTION OF ABBA MORO

By: Morgan Adikwu

Former Senate President, David Mark, has appealed for support for the re-election of Senator Abba Moro, invariably urging stakeholders in Benue South to prioritise legislative continuity and strategic representation as political conversations ahead of the 2027 elections begin to take shape.

Mark made the appeal over the weekend while speaking at a public gathering, using the occasion to restate his long-held position that effective representation in the National Assembly is built over time. 

Although the event coincided with the launch of "The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria", a book authored by former Senator Effiong Bob, Senator David Mark’s remarks are being interpreted as  directed at the emerging Benue South senatorial race and the need to retain experience at a critical moment.

Advertising 

He argued that the first four years of a lawmaker’s tenure are largely spent learning legislative procedures, building relationships, and understanding the power dynamics within the National Assembly. 

According to him, real influence and effectiveness only emerge after this period. Senior legislators, Mark noted, no longer depend on rulebooks but operate through procedural mastery, institutional memory, and established networks, factors that convert representation into tangible results.

Political pundits opined that, Mark’s intervention has particular relevance for Benue South, where Abba Moro, the serving Senator and Senate Minority Leader, currently occupies a position of national prominence. Minority leadership, political actors acknowledge, comes with visibility, cross-party engagement, and negotiating leverage that few senatorial districts enjoy. Such standing, they note, is not accidental but the product of time, experience, and consistency.

Drawing from global practice, supporting Mark's postulation , longevity in legislative politics is widely regarded as an asset rather than a weakness. In established democracies such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, seniority determines influence. Long-serving legislators often chair powerful committees, shape national budgets, and attract major federal projects to their districts. 

In the United States Senate, for example, leadership of committees on appropriations, defence, infrastructure, agriculture, and foreign relations is closely tied to seniority, with experienced senators leveraging these positions to secure disproportionate benefits for their states.

Thus, Nigeria’s democracy, though still evolving, operates on the same underlying logic. 

The National Assembly is not an equal arena where all senators wield the same influence regardless of experience. Power grows with time, relationships, and institutional understanding. Senators who serve multiple terms are better positioned to negotiate across party lines, influence committee decisions, and translate access into development outcomes for their constituencies.

Mark’s own legislative history can be cited as an illustration. 

His return to the Senate for a fourth term was widely viewed as a strategic move aimed at retaining institutional leadership as the President of the Senate, and influence at the centre. That continuity, he argued, ensured sustained leverage for his district. 

Replacing experience with inexperience at such moments, often resets progress and forces constituencies to restart the long process of influence-building.

Supporters of continuity point to Abba Moro’s antecedents as reinforcing the argument. Before his election to the Senate, Moro built political capital through executive and local governance, establishing relationships across Benue South. In the Senate, his leadership style reflects a shift toward a more access-driven and network-oriented approach, positioning the district advantageously within Nigeria’s complex federal structure.

Advertising 

Against this backdrop, discussions around alternative candidacies have attracted scepticism in some quarters. Political actors familiar with Mark’s strategic instincts describe such moves as ill-timed, given Benue South’s current positioning. Mark, widely regarded as a statesman known for measured judgment and pragmatic decision-making, is seen as advocating outcomes over sentiment.

While internal conversations continue about possible alternatives should continuity be disrupted, a prevailing view remains that an Abba Moro–David Mark alignment offers Benue South the most immediate and practical dividends, access, influence, and development, without the steep learning curve that accompanies legislative inexperience.

Ultimately, Mark’s appeal frames the choice before the district not as change versus stagnation, but as consolidation versus experimentation. His argument is that longevity, when anchored on performance and connection to the people, strengthens representation, and that Benue South must decide whether this is the moment to consolidate accumulated influence or reset its position at the national level.