…Hires Mercenaries To Compromise Anti-Graft Operatives
Probe: Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State is having sleepless nights trying to stop the investigation of his government, following petitions sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti graft agencies regarding the alleged diversion of public funds to the tune of N66 billion and abuse of office.
A pro-democracy group known as Concerned Citizens of Benue for Good Governance as well as anti-corruption civil society organization, Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN) had written to the EFCC and other relevant authorities to begin investigation of Governor Alia and his officials over money laundering and embezzlement.
The groups also accused Governor Alia of awarding contracts for 16 short streets in Makurdi for an initial N6 billion when he was yet to constitute a cabinet in place and later inflating the cost of the projects to N9 billion.
The petitioners further stated that the contracts were over valued and used as conduit pipes for the benefit of Governor Alia, stressing that the projects were not covered in the budget of the state and no approval was given by the state House of Assembly.
Read Also: 10 months of frozen state accounts, Lawmakers fumes at Gov. Alia to unfreeze them
The House of Representatives Public Petitions Committee had summoned officials of the Benue State Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs as well as officials of the 23 local government councils in the state to appear before it on 5th March, 2024 to answer questions regarding the reported diversion of over N20 billion meant for the Benue councils.
In the other petition also copied to the Director General, Department of State Services (DSS), Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes; Concerned Citizens of Benue for Good Governance alleged that only within his first four months in office, Governor Alia’s administration diverted over N46 billion from the state coffers on fake contracts and refurbished vehicles, among other phantom projects.
“What is happening with Benue’s resources under the watch of Governor Alia is worse than a locust. Governor Alia has spent a whopping amount of N46 Billion in just four months in office awarding fictitious contracts, none of which is ongoing. Contracts are awarded to cronies without due process”, the group had written.
Latest information has it that Governor Alia is using billions of Benue taxpayer’s money to stop the commencement of the investigation. Inner sources say Alia is visibly disturbed that such investigation could unearth a lot of evidence of mismanagement of resources of the state under him and erode his reputation.
The recent motion by the Benue State House of Assembly asking the governor to unfreeze accounts of the state is another source of worry for him. Since he came to power in May 2023, Governor Alia has been the sole operator of all government accounts as he directly relates with managers of the respective banks where government funds are domiciled and has been the only one directly making payments for contracts, a development that violates the States’ Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) law otherwise known as Due Process Law, and it is an impeachable offence.
Alia is said to have hired some individuals in Abuja who specialize in compromising the system and is giving them large sums of money to help him thwart the corruption petitions against his government at EFCC and other government agencies. His first plan was to attempt to cause the disappearance of the petitions from EFCC files and force the eventual dismissal of the matter.
The Benue State Governor used the same tactics to prevent the appearance of his Special Adviser on Bureau for LG Affairs Dennis Akura and the others before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions by seeking the intervention of some top government officials and party chieftains in Abuja to prevail on the chairman of the House committee to postpone the probe of the Benue State officials.
Alia had before then, directed the Benue State Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to convene an emergency Joint Accounts (JAAC) meeting at the Bureau’s headquarters in Makurdi where they doctored the financial records that might be incriminating against his government.
The petitioners have been accusing the governor of embarking on the construction of a flyover at the High Level roundabout at the cost he has claimed to be N6 billion in an area which never experiences traffic congestion and which project is also not captured in the budget and is now talking about a similar contract in Gboko. They said the flyovers do not have any known architectural designs and will only serve as a means for fleecing public resources in the hands of Governor Alia.
The groups wondered why despite the huge allocations accruing to the state following the removal of subsidy, Governor Alia has chosen to ignore the basic aspects of development and has chosen to amass wealth for himself and his cronies.
