By Amos Aar
BENUE State governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has debunked the allegation by the Nigerian Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, that state governors were each given thirty billion naira by the federal government for onward disbursement to people in their states to mitigate the effect of inflation in the country.
Alia made the disclaimer on Sunday during a dinner organised by APC MINDA Youth in collaboration with MINDA Elders Forum in honour of the governor to declare their total support for him as the party’s internal crisis continued to linger.
He described the N30 billion rumour as a slip of tongue and misinformation which he attributed to non-verification of facts.
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Governor Alia did not mention any specific “leader at the national assembly” who fed the public with the information which he said was unrealistic. However, Premium Times had reported on February 21, 2024 that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had alleged during the plenary on Tuesday, February 20, 24 that “unverified information” available to him indicated that N30 billion was given to each of the 36 state governors through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in addition to the N2 billion earlier released to the governors last September out of the N5 billion loan the federal government offered to each state as a palliative to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.
In his reaction, Alia said, “as part of national anxiety, a good number of you may have read one of our leaders at the national assembly, that was a slip of tongue. Facts were not properly checked.
“We, the governors, would have responded individually but we thought that collectively, we are going to respond to that. But it remains a fact that no state governor was given N30 billion.
“If you give me N30 billion in Benue State, you will only catch me if you have wings. I know that was a mistake because facts were not checked; but this is the fact.
“So, for those who are anxious and have been writing what they do not understand, please, you have heard from me as well”.
