Gov Hyacinth Alia Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has discarded the fraudulent allegation leveled against him by a group in the state.
A group in Benue State had earlier petitioned the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Department of State Service (DSS) to query the State Government with an allegation that the administration of Governor Alia has embezzled N44 billion since inception.
The allegation was also reiterated by some members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who were loyal to the Secretary General of the Federation, Senator George Akume, recalling that they are opposing the administration of Governor Alia following political infighting.
Reacting to the allegation, the media aid to the Governor, Tersoo Kula, discarded the allegation claiming it was aimed at distracting the administration.
He said, "Reports have emerged from a nocturnal family dinner held at Kilometre 4 by a few APC stakeholders and christened as the State Executive Committee meeting of APC which was later renamed a state congress.
The meeting which came in the phase of a ban on political gatherings, fell short of all requirements for a party meeting of such magnitude, where the party has a sitting governor who is their leader and must be part of the agenda for the meeting.
In the said report, speaker after speakers were quoted to have, in their news found impudent berated His Excellency, Gov. Hyacinth Iormem Alia in all possible demeaning words, accusing him of mismanaging a ghost sum of 44 billion naira given to Benue state, aside federal allocations hence, the need to throw light on this false information.
Sadly, these set 1999 party stakeholders are so used to Benue state government funds to an extent that once they are denied access, they can go to any length to bring down any serving governor. If not for mischief purposes, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio who recently made the spurious allegation that state governors were given 30 billion each has since apologized to the Nigeria Governors' Forum, and the Oyo State Governor has equally cleared the air that nothing of sort ever happened.
But in an attempt to give Gov. Alia a bad name to hang him, the stakeholders who were fully aware of these facts still went public repeating the same lie. Gov. Alia has never hidden any funds released to his administration. When the 2 billion, out of the 5 billion palliatives support was given to Benue, His Excellency was among the first governors to announce receipt of the money; he went ahead and gave an expenditure account, covering the purchase of new buses at Benue Links and fertilizer to farmers.
It is worrisome that this group of stakeholders has stood in the way of Benue's progress for a long time, preferring party politics to governance such that once elections are over, they would distract the winners until they are frustrated to leave the party and pave way for them to start feasting on new aspirants. To them, you are good only when you are contesting elections.
It was this same group that saw Gov. Alia as the only messiah to give them victory in 2023 with the majority of them clinging to the Alia effect and popularity to win their elections.
Despite these series of distractions and unfounded allegations, the Alia administration has a pact, first with the Benue masses who happily voted him to power and the administration is doing its best to fulfill the yearnings of the people who are daily, passing a vote of confidence in the the governor and his government. Past governors who served the interest of stakeholders in Benue only left the state highly impoverished and starved of basic developments.
Yesterday's meeting exposed a lot of hypocrisy around the clique of 1999 stakeholders in Benue and their unrepentant quest to see the Alia administration fail. They praised Mr. President for projects in Benue, praised the Vice President, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and even the suspended State Chairman of the party but could not see a single project from the Alia administration to commend however, we know quite clearly that development to them is holding of juicy positions and amassing wealth.
By holding a political meeting against a state order in the Makurdi residence of Sen. George Akume who is himself a former governor, the SGF has again exposed himself as one who is beating the drums of war for the stakeholders to have an affront on the governor; this is highly unpatriotic and condemnable.
Benue PDP in a hurry to partner with this mischief has also written her epistle, relying on the stakeholders' report to demand an account of the imaginary 44 billion naira from the Alia administration but the government is not deterred by such antics.
Governor Alia has a renewable mandate of four full years and he has set the machinery in place to leave Benue better and greater than he met it. Those distracting the governor are the true enemies of the state and the masses would place them correctly at the right time.
Category: World-News
Tag: Gov Alia Reacts to N44 Billion Fraud Allegation Leveled Against Him
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Published 3/5/2024 12:43:07 AM