By Amos Aar
TWO appointees of Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State; Mr Tersoo Kula, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, and Mr Dennis Akura, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, have lambasted alleged opponents and critics of the governor following the constitution of caretaker committees for the 23 local government areas of the state.
Kula and Akura at a press conference last Saturday castigated Senator Abba Moro, the Senate Minority Leader, who represents Benue South senatorial district over his motion on the floor of the Senate calling for stoppage of federal allocations to the state’s local government councils with undemocratic structures in Benue and other states in Nigeria.
The duo said Senator Moro was engaging in reckless lies and unbridled insinuations over the state of local government administration in Benue State, adding that the senator manipulated and misinformed the Senate that elected local government chairmen were illegally dissolved contrary to their lawful sack because of their culpability in monumental fraudulent acts.
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According to the aides, Governor Alia did not dissolve the democratically elected local government councils in the state but rather the Benue State House of Assembly vested with the constitutional powers to legislate over the local government.
The CPS claimed that the appointment of caretaker chairmen followed a recommendation by the Benue State House of Assembly which investigated the former chairmen of the local government councils and found them culpable of financial impropriety.
Kula accused Moro of partisan mischief having served as caretaker chairman and sole administrator of Okpokwu local government council but had suddenly regarded caretaker chairmen a misnomer.
While Kula urged Moro to tender an unreserved apology to the Benue State House of Assembly and people of the state, he called on the Senate to always scrutinise its motions properly to avoid a repeat of the senator’s mischief and to prevent them from being made a laughing stock by the public.
Governor Alia has been having tough time from federal legislators and some stakeholders in the state across party lines since he initiated the process of appointing local government caretaker committees to replace the suspended elected council officials who are still battling with him in the court.
Like Kula and Akura, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Alia on Youth Mobilisation and Empowerment, Hon. Moses Mkeenem, and Hon. Isaiah Abah, the APC local government secretary of Ogbadibo local government, also called a press conference where they demanded Hon. Austin Agada, the Benue State chairperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to resign his position owing to alleged anti-party activities.
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Mkeenem accused Agada of instigating and mobilising 23 APC local government chairmen to protest against the appointment of local government caretaker committees by Governor Alia.
The 23 APC local government chairmen had on Thursday at a meeting in Makurdi chided the governor for not involving them and other party stakeholders in the recent appointment of caretaker committees whose list is still before the Benue State House of Assembly for confirmation. The LG party chairmen threatened to stage a protest against the governor over the issue both in Makurdi and Abuja.
Mkeenem described the alleged anti-party activities by Comrade Agada as unfortunate and capable of causing crisis, pointing out that he had interrupted the conduct of the speakership election of the 10th Benue Assembly earlier in July, 2023 and has been interfering with all issues including those not related to politics.
“The youth wing of Benue State therefore called on Comrade Austin Agada to step aside for lack of leadership qualities so that a competent person will take over and pilot the affairs of the party effectively in order to foster peace, progress and unity
“Again, the fallacy by the APC local government chairmen instigated by Agada that Governor Alia is not working with the party is also unfortunate and condemnable. The Governor has been working round the clock to build the broom party as demonstrated in the full support he rendered during the recent stakeholders meeting of the APC in the state,” the SSA stated.
Also speaking at the press briefing, Hon. Abah, the APC secretary of Ogbadibo LGA, where Hon. Agada hails from, backed Mkeenem, saying they were not in support of what Agada was doing and called for his resignation.
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“I’m here to add my voice to what the SSA on Youth Mobilisation has said here today. We, the APC from Ogbadibo local government area and the good people of Ogbadibo local government area, we are not in support of what Comrade Austin Agada is doing and we choose to say it here clearly that we have distanced ourselves from whatever he is doing against the leadership of the government of Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia.
“The choice or the decision of the caretaker chairmen in Ogbadibo local government area went down well with us except for that of the vice-chairman. The lady that has been nominated to be the vice caretaker committee of Ogbadibo local government area, Charity Okpanachi, is not a member of our party…
“To make matters worse, she do not [sic] hold a voter’s card. How can you appoint such a person to be in the caretaker committee? The same person is nominated by Comrade Austin Agada. So, if today he is accusing the governor of anti-party activities, what is more anti-party than that?” Abah stated.
He continued: “Go to Ogbadibo local government and ask Comrade Dan Onjeh who was the senatorial candidate of our party how he lost that election. Who chaired the anti-party activities that lent his slot to Senator Moro? Whatever you heard Senator Moro say yesterday, I want to tell you point blankly [sic] that it was a collaboration from his team and those who did anti-party in his favour.
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“Ask Hon. Philip Agbese who is the House of Representatives member for Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo federal constituency what was his experience with Comrade Austin Agada in the last election. We all know, he was out there supporting the candidature of Aida Nath, the PDP candidate. These are verifiable facts. “I want to tell the Governor that whatever has to do with Ogbadibo local government, he should continue to deal with the leader of the party in that local government, his commissioner for Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Odoh Ugwu. Hon. Odoh Ugwu, I believe he is the number one person that can protect the interest and has always protected the interest of the governor in that local government,” Abah stressed.
