Governor Alia Governing Benue Like Catholic Church Parish – PDP

Posted by Nwa Diokpa Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Sunday, December 8th, 2024

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Benue state have stated that the state governor, Hyacinth Alia of the APC, is running the state like a Catholic Church parish.

The PDP, in a statement by its State Publicity Secretary, Tim Nyor, alleged that Governor Hyacinth Alia-led administration is undermining the tenets of democracy and neglecting the core values of transparency and accountability.

It is worth mentioning that Alia was a Catholic Priest before he ventured into politics in the 2023 general election.
According to the statement, the governor has taken the path of secrecy and exclusion instead of engaging with the people.

The statement said: “It has become increasingly apparent that the Alia administration operates more like a Catholic parish than a democratic government, fundamentally undermining the principles and tenets of democracy that our citizens rightfully deserve.

“Under Governor Alia’s administration, there is a blatant disregard for the core values of democratic governance, including accountability, transparency, regulatory control, rule of law, political stability and inclusiveness.

“The administration has consistently failed to engage with the people of the state, opting instead for secrecy and exclusion from decision-making processes that affect our lives.

Critical issues beleaguering our state, including infrastructure decay, lack of basic services and the erosion of public trust remain unaddressed while the government prioritizes white elephant projects like new government houses, new universities and abandoned works on underpass projects in Makurdi and Gboko.

“We demand that the governor lives up to his campaign promises by immediately clearing the backlog of arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities as states are now receiving record allocations from the Federation Allocation Account Committee as confirmed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu few months ago.

“Considering the unprecedented enormity of funds accruable to the state under his administration, we wonder about the delay in putting smiles on the faces of Benue workers, some of whom have already embarked on a strike action.

“The PDP is disturbed that in his nearly two years in office, he is yet to resettle a single displaced person back to his farmland as promised.

“His utter silence in the face of brutal killings of Benue citizens stands condemned. Never in the history of Benue has security degenerated to its present state under his administration, and we are yet to see, hear or feel any concrete measure towards forestalling these killings.

“We call on the Governor to remember that he is a servant of the people and not a ruler of a parish. It is imperative that the administration shifts its focus from personal interests to the collective welfare of our citizens.”