…Chief Philip Agbese Is Right
As a pro-democracy group, it is our duty to commend when we see or hear what is good for our people and to point out what is wrong at all times.
We have observed with disbelief the constant barefaced lies peddled by the government of Hyacinth Alia of Benue State claiming that he is working wonders, and we have been asking where are the wonders to no avail.
Governor Alia who promised heaven on earth for Benue State has received in just seven months the amount of money that Ortom did not receive in many years, yet there is nothing to show for it. All that Alia tells the people is that he is “paying salaries” as if he was elected to come and only pay salaries. Salary payment is the right of the workers not a favour done them.
He told the people that he had awarded contracts for the construction of 16 short streets in Makurdi town with all the streets only 15 kilometers long put together at a whopping cost of N6 billion. Soon after, he increased the cost of the projects to N9 billion without any explanation. Till today, none of the road constructions is ongoing.
Alia received N5 billion palliatives funds from the federal government and bought a few refurbished buses and crested the vehicles with his picture and denied President Bola Tinubu his deserved credit.
Governor Alia has not accounted for funds that he has received from the federation’s account in 7 months. But we know that what he is getting is three times more than what Ortom was receiving and the salaries and pensions bill has remained the same. He is also mute on internal revenue. No one knows what he is doing with the people’s money.
We commend the House of Representatives member for Ado/Ogbadibo/Okpokwu Federal Constituency, Chief Philip Agbese for speaking the truth in the face of the blatant falsehood from Alia’s camp. Agbese put it correctly when he stated thus:
“Did the past government not pay salary? Of course we all agree that there was a along period of time that they had issues with payment of salaries but they paid salaries. And we (APC goverment) have not done anything differently.
“So what’s the need for us APC to campaign in the first instance asking the people to give us their mandate if we are coming to pay salaries and do nothing for the masses.”
Our conclusion is that Alia is full of deception and he doesn’t mean well for our people. Even if he is given 8,000 years as governor, he can’t do anything different.
His comparison with Ortom in the area of salary payment is a fraud. Ortom didn’t get half of what he is getting and Ortom faced a tough battle with former President Muhammadu Buhari and his cohorts who wanted to cripple the governor. They denied him numerous opportunities that were available for other states at the federal level. They starved Ortom’s government of funds and frustrated him. Yet, he was managing to pay workers and pensioners.
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If Alia faces just a quarter of the challenges that Ortom faced in security and the economy, will he survive? Nigeria went into deep recessions two times during the 8 years of Buhari and that adversely affected states like Benue. But Ortom did not allow those problems to weigh him down. He kept his pact with the people and served them dutifully till May 29, 2023.
Alia has failed us! Simple!
OUR DEMANDS
(i) As a matter of urgency, we call on governor Alia to stop giving excuses and face governance. He promised to return the IDPs back to their ancestral homes, but no one is hearing anything about that from him now.
(ii) Our people are being killed by herdsmen and bandits but he is saying nothing. We expect decisive action from him to end the wave of insecurity.
(iii) He promised to clear the arrears of salaries and he has got more than enough money to do that, but he is no longer talking about it. He should tell us what is happening with the people’s resources.
(iv) Governor Alia should give account of all the money that has accrued to the state since June 2023 and tell us what he is doing with the internal revenue IGR which we understand he has given to a private company owned by his friends.
(v) He should tell us why he is quiet about the spate of insecurity in the state since he assumed office. The people deserve to be protected.
(vi) Lastly, we advise Governor Alia to stop making further promises and concentrate on fulfilling the ones he already made. The campaign period is over.
Signed:
Amos Uchiv
President
Defenders of Democracy, DoD
