By Amos Aar
THE Governor of Benue State, Rev. Fr Hyacinth Iormem Alia, on Friday announced four more appointments into his administration, which sparked mixed reactions in social media circles in the state.
In a statement on Friday by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Alia, Tersoo Terkula, the governor approved the appointments of Mr Iorshagher Ikyereve as Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Deputy Governor Sam Ode along with two other persons who are also to serve in the Deputy Governor’s office, with Barr Musa Sulaiman Ujor as Deputy Chief of Staff and Mr Lawrence Ogwuche as Deputy Private Secretary.
Similarly, Governor Alia on Friday approved the appointment of Mr Emmanuel Terlumun Agema as Acting Chairman, Benue State Internal Revenue Service (BIRS).
Meanwhile, mixed reactions have continued to trail Governor Alia’s key appointments as it has been from the beginning of his administration.
One Terhide Utaan Conrad, in his reaction on his Facebook wall, described Governor Alia’s appointments so far as lopsided, noting that all juicy positions in the state have been allegedly given to Zone A people and Vandeikya in particular where the governor hails from.
But for Kpev Tyolaha Vitalis, who came from a retaliatory point of view posited that the immediate past Governor of the state, Samuel Ortom, had done the same thing and so, Alia has not erred by replicating the style of appointment.
Others argued that the gubernatorial position in Benue state is rotational and anyone who climbs the number one seat should sectionally develop his local government of origin and senatorial zone, a strategy they said will develop all parts of the state in the long run. This is even as Benue zone C has never produced a Governor of the state since its creation in 1976 according to some analysts who doubted the rotation of the slot.
Others like Steven Tover are of the opinion that Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia, a famous Catholic Priest, should have shown a difference from the old wrong system by carrying along people from all parts of the state because that was the expectation of the masses before election and Alia allegedly gave them such assurances.
National Record has confirmed that from the appointments made so far, Chief of Staff to the Governor is from Ukum local government, zone A, Secretary to the State Government from Kwande local government, zone A, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor from Ushongo local government, zone A, Principal Private Secretary from Vandeikya local government, zone A, Executive Secretary, State Emergency Management Agency from Vandeikya, zone A, General Manager of Benue Links Ltd from Katsina-Ala local government, zone A, Acting Chairman, Benue Internal Revenue Service from Vandeikya local government, zone A, General Manager, Benue State Urban Development Board from Vandeikya local government, zone A, Chief Medical Director, Benue State University Teaching Hospital from Vandeikya local government, zone A, State Head of Service from Obi local government, zone C, CPS to Deputy Governor from Vandeikya local government, zone A, and Deputy Chief of Staff to Deputy Governor, zone C.
As a sign of protest and expression of anger over the perceived lopsided appointments, a support group for Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia, which voluntarily cleaned up Makurdi metropolis before and after the swearing in of the Governor into office on May 29, 2023, boldly refused to carry out the sanitation exercise again when they were called upon on Friday to turn up on Saturday.
In their various comments on Facebook where an invitation for Saturday sanitation was posted, members of the Team Clean Up Benue had this to say:
Ihom Shadrack said, “Alia with his appointees should come and clean up Makurdi. We are hungry”.
Aboh Fabian Ortindi said, “we need to clean up the appointment list too”.
On his part, Terlumun Iyav even warned Mr Upaa Michael Zape who posted the invitation not to tag him in such a post again.
He said: “I can’t go out to clean Benue without food. If any of my bosses is given appointment, I will not be going hungry all day long”.
