…Spent N46 billion in 4 Months on Fake Contracts, Refurbished Vehicles etc
When Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State came to power, he made the people to believe that he could use only the internally generated revenue, IGR to pay salaries without touching the federal allocations. He paid the June salary of some ministries and agencies, and his team boasted that the Governor was keeping his promise.
Though Governor Alia later denied the notion that he was saving the federal allocations, what he emphasized again was that his government was different and not wasteful. He said he didn’t have to spend Benue’s money unnecessarily.
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Recent developments have however proven that Governor Alia has not been telling Benue people the truth. To describe his government as wasteful is to be kind to him. What is happening with Benue’s resources under the watch of Governor Alia is worse than a locust.
According to Sahara Reporters, Governor Alia spent whopping amounts in just four months in office awarding fictitious contracts which none is ongoing.
Between May 29 and September 30th, 2023, Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has received and spent more than N46 billion of state resources, prominent among which is the duplication of contracts for the procurement of Hummer buses as palliative measures.
In August, Governor announced that his government had awarded contract for the construction of 16 township roads in Makurdi at the cost of N6 billion. The road projects were yet to start anywhere in the state capital, when suddenly, Governor Alia announced that the State Executive Council had given him approval to increase the contract amount for the 16 road projects from N6 billion to N9 billion.
Records we reliably obtained showed that on the 6th October, 2023, the state government awarded M/s Triacta Nigeria Limited the sum of N2,760,018,000.00 for the construction/rehabilitation of 16 roads within Makurdi metropolis (15.39km) (contract No. BSPPC-47/2023).
Again on 30th October, 2023, the Alia government released the sum of N1,977,379,575.79 (N1.9 billion) with contract number BSPPC-47/2023 which was paid to M/s Triacta Nigeria Ltd for the same construction/rehabilitation of 15.39km of 16 roads within Makurdi Metropolis.
With the huge amount already released for the road projects, a tour of the Benue State capital however indicated that work is not progressing on any of the roads. The projects ended with the elaborate flag-off ceremony on the 7th of August 2023.
On the 5th of September, 2023, Governor Alia released N1,273,875,000.00 (N1.2 billion) for the procurement of 100 refurbished 2017/2016 Hummer buses for palliative measures and 50 fairly used Hilux 2018/2019 model vehicles for other purposes. The company known as Lajec Engineering Services Ltd owned by some cronies of the Governor were given the contract to procure the vehicles.
Governor Alia again on the 27th of September, 2023, released additional N736,375,000.00, this time for an unspecified number of fairly used Hummer buses for palliative measures and fairly used Toyota Hilux (2018/2019 model) for other purposes with the (contract no. BSPPC-43/2023). The job was also awarded to Lajec Engineering Limited.
Shockingly, on the 28th September, 2023, the Alia government again released N2,236,000,000.00 (N2.2 billion) to Lajec Engineering Services Ltd for the procurement of the same refurbished Hummer buses and some fairly used Toyota Hilux (2018/2019) model vehicles. The number of the vehicles in the 3rd approval was also not specified.
Our investigation further showed that even the 100 Hummer buses procured were converted from right hand drive to left hand drive.
Our fact check however shows that the current market prices of the used Hummer buses are only about N10 million per unit.
Our investigation reveals that Governor Alia has spent about N3 billion on his vehicles and those of other government officials including State Assembly members.
Government records indicated that on the 5th of September 2023, the Alia government spent N2,040,780,000.00 for the procurement of vehicles for the Governor, his Deputy, Assembly members and other government officials in the state.
Within the four months under review, Governor Alia spent billions on his travels and other expenses, most of which are personal to his office as the governor.
