ALIA PLAYING DIRTY, DANGEROUS POLITICS TO DESTROY BENUE SONS

It has become necessary for us as Defenders of Democracy (DoD) to once more lend our voice to a disturbing and dangerous trend being anchored by the governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia. Since he became governor, Alia’s only known achievement is plotting to destroy illustrious sons of the state. 

No week passes without one group or the other addressing the national media to attack prominent figures like Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume and the former Governor Samuel Ortom. Reliable information has it that Governor Alia uses huge state resources to sponsor those groups to run down Akume, Ortom and any other politician that he considers to be an opponent. 

He sponsored the groups to write petitions to President Bola Tinubu against Akume, accusing the SGF of nursing an ambition to run for the office of president in 2027. His target is to remove Akume from the influential office and render him powerless so that he Alia can have total control of APC structures in the state ahead of future elections. 

Governor Alia has also written series of petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Ortom to make sure that the former Governor is arrested and kept away from the state. His anger is seeing Ortom moving about freely. 

On September 18, 2023, a group known as Benue Progressives Forum for Good Governance addressed a press conference in Makurdi in which Akume and Ortom the were heavily insulted and blackmailed in a very unfortunate manner. The tone and sentiments of the group were in synergy with those raised a month earlier (August) by Zone A People's Assembly, ZAPA which was founded by Senator Gabriel Suswam and is now being sponsored by governor Alia.

The group further accused the SGF that he had “concluded plans to work with the former Governor of the state, Mr. Samuel Ortom and the Governorship candidate of the PDP, Mr. Titus Uba”. It also claimed that Senator Akume was using his position to shield Ortom from prosecution by the EFCC. 

On October 8, 2023, a group calling themselves the Benue Patriots also held a press conference and leveled similar accusations against  Akume and Ortom echoing the claims made by the previous groups. The group alleged that Ortom was planning to join the All Progressives Congress (APC). Interestingly, all the media appearances by the said groups share a common thread of lavishing praise on the current Governor, Hyacinth Alia, indicating whose interests they are serving.

But the question is, between Ortom who is supporting SGF Akume and governor Alia who is sponsoring groups to attack the SGF, who genuinely loves Benue State? 

Alia has abandoned the mandate that the people gave him and is more interested in pulling down other prominent figures in the state. Security has collapsed in Benue State. Fulani terrorists have taken over many parts of the state and have been killing hundreds of people. Governor Alia has not said or done anything to stop the killings. He has not appointed a special adviser on security five months into his governorship. 

Alia is running Benue like a parish. Only he knows how much the state has received from the federation account in form of allocations and only he knows how much the state has generated as internal revenue. But sources in Abuja have revealed that Benue State has received close to N100 billion since June. 
The removal of oil subsidy has increased federal allocations to states by 70%. The man has locked the state bank accounts and only opens the accounts to withdraw money when he has a personal need for money. 

Alia is buying private property everywhere for himself and is acculturating personal wealth and has abandoned his party men and women who worked hard to bring him to power. We understand that he is already planning to buy his private jet. 

He announced the award of contracts for the construction of 15 short streets in Makurdi, but the projects have since been abandoned. We gathered that the contracts were fake and just another move to get money and bribe his way at the election tribunal. 

Our Stand
Someone close to governor Alia should let him know that we as Benue people are taking careful note of his relentless moves to destroy prominent sons of the state. We will not fold our arms and watch him deny us the opportunity that we now have in the big position that God has used President Tinubu to give us known as SGF. Governor Alias’s continued attacks on Akume will be vehemently resisted. 

Signed:

Comrade Amos Uchiv 
President, Defenders of Democracy (DoD)