By Jakaya Unamtor in Makurdi – 25/10/2022
…Allege pilfering of their welfare allowance and vow to withdraw their support
Yesterday was indeed a sad day for supporters of the disputed Governorship Candidate of the APC in Benue State, Hon. Hyacinth Alia, as they were forced to trek long distances on empty stomachs back to their homes.
Reason was reportedly that the N10 million doled out for their welfare and take-home by the visiting wife of their party’s Presidential Candidate, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, grew wings and disappeared under the custody of their Guber Candidate.
As at nightfall a crowd of tired and hungry looking followers of the sacked Catholic priest turned politician were seen milling around at his campaign office located on Iyorchia Ayu Road Opposite the Benue State Library.
A number of them who lamented to this reporter expressed disappointment that a man they have been trusting as a messiah could treat them this way pocketing monies meant for their welfare.
But neither Hon. Alia nor any of his Aides were on hand to attend to the crowd of stranded supporters, and tired of waiting after several hours, they eventually left the office hungry and disillusioned, with some vowing openly not to follow the disputed guber candidate further, having now known his true character.
It was when news of the situation went viral in the media that one Kula Tersoo purporting to be an Aide of the sacked priest came out with a statement conveying apology from his principal to the shortchanged supporters, promising it won’t happen again.
But by then most of the supporters had already seen enough to understand truly the type of man they are dealing with.
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This is another scandal added to the growing litany of scandals trailing Hon. Alia, from allegations of theft of cement under his watch meant for the building of the St. Thomas Catholic Parish, Anum church project, to the disputed APC guber primaries which was marred in irregularities but which he hailed as most credible to tales of sexual immorality involving him with women, both married and single.
The sacked priest is also being quizzed in the court of public opinion over the source of his private residence in Makurdi which is a palatial white mansion located in the high brow New GRA of the city, with many querying how come he never completed a single church project in his entire 32 years of priesthood, yet could build such an edifice for his private use.
