BY IDUH ONAH
IN ROMAN Catholic theology, the sphere of sin is divided into two broad categories: mortal and venial sins. Mortal sins involve grave matters, full knowledge and deliberate consent, while venial sins are less grave but still wound the relationship between man and God.
The Church also teaches that sin can be forgiven through genuine repentance and reconciliation. Indeed, there is no shortage of divine mercy; the real problem is often the sinner’s willingness to acknowledge that he has sinned.
Catholic theology teaches that forgiveness requires contrition, confession, amendment and, where necessary, reparation. Political forgiveness is not so different. A government can survive mistakes, but voters are less forgiving of mistakes that are denied, repeated or blamed on somebody else. Therefore, if Alia wants full political indulgence, he may need more than the usual campaign promises. The people may need evidence of true repentance in the form of better security, faster resettlement, broader political inclusion and clearer fiscal accountability.
Politics, though considerably less sacramental, has its own version of this theology. By that measure, Governor Hyacinth Alia’s record since assuming office in 2023 could be divided into mortal and venial “political sins”. Some are grave enough to threaten his political salvation; others may require genuine confession, repentance, apologies and appropriate indulgence or penance for the sins committed since assumption of office on May 29, 2023.
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The first of the mortal sins is his unfulfilled promise to clear inherited salary and pension arrears which had caused so much pain for thousands of families during the Governors Gabriel Suswam and Samuel Ortom administrations, a major reason that largely enhanced Alia’s election, seen in 2023 as a clergy who will not behave like conventional politicians. His promise that synced into the psyche of the predominantly civil service and agrarian economy was that he would within months rapidly improve the welfare of Benue workers.
While it is true that his administration has not owed serving civil servants’ salaries since he assumed office and has made part payments from arrears inherited from the previous governments, the liabilities have not been completely liquidated. As one account of the situation puts it, arrears owed to serving civil servants have largely been cleared, with only the December 2017 outstanding salaries remaining.
The situation is considerably more complicated for pensioners. Some groups of pensioners have reportedly been owed from 2007, during the administration of Governor Gabriel Suswam, with their pension arrears running alongside unpaid gratuities. With elections approaching, there is also speculation that the gratuities of civil servants who exited the service between 2007 to 2014 are being processed and could soon be paid.
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For those who retired from 2015 through April 2023, shortly before Alia assumed office, however, pension arrears and gratuities are reportedly still outstanding. So, as we gradually approach the 2027 election, the population of the angry and grieving is still high. Politically, this distinction matters because clearing the salary arrears of serving workers is not the same thing as resolving the accumulated pension and gratuity liabilities of those who have left the service and therefore have basically little or nothing to survive on with their families.
It is this political dimension that repeatedly stoked contestations between Governor Alia and his predecessor immediate, Ortom, over the scale of inherited liabilities. While Alia put the figure at N359 billion, Ortom challenged the claim and demanded publication of allocations and expenditure Vis-à-vis Alia’s inability to clear inherited arrears. No matter the complexion of this argument, it poses a complex political problem for Alia because it is not simply whether arrears have been paid or not but more the perception that dramatically improved federal revenues have not translated proportionately into the kind of transformation he promised.
Then comes the insecurity question, perhaps the most dangerous item in Alia’s assumed sins. Obviously, Benue has suffered repeated mass killings. After the Yelwata massacre in June 2025, criticism of his handling of insecurity intensified. While he had consistently condemned attacks in press statements issued by his media aide, and sought federal assistance, but his public insistence in November 2025 that there was no “religious genocide” in Benue was interpreted differently by grieving communities and political opponents.
Catholic theology teaches that forgiveness requires contrition, confession, amendment and, where necessary, reparation. Political forgiveness is not so different. A government can survive mistakes, but voters are less forgiving of mistakes that are denied, repeated or blamed on somebody else. Therefore, if Alia wants full political indulgence, he may need more than the usual campaign promises. The people may need evidence of true repentance in the form of better security, faster resettlement, broader political inclusion and clearer fiscal accountability.
Catholic theology teaches that forgiveness requires contrition, confession, amendment and, where necessary, reparation. Political forgiveness is not so different. A government can survive mistakes, but voters are less forgiving of mistakes that are denied, repeated or blamed on somebody else. Therefore, if Alia wants full political indulgence, he may need more than the usual campaign promises. The people may need evidence of true repentance in the form of better security, faster resettlement, broader political inclusion and clearer fiscal accountability.
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Another political mortal sin is Alia’s alleged betrayal of his godfather, Senator George Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), by staging a power tussle with him shortly after he was sworn into office. Though it is difficult to categorically say who, between Alia and Akume, is entirely right or wrong, but clearly, the quarrel consumed political oxygen that ought to have been used for governance. The dispute fractured the APC into rival camps, produced parallel congresses and eventually required presidential intervention. Even after reconciliation efforts, disagreements persisted into the 2026 primaries.
Whatever its origins, a governor spending so much political capital fighting the man who helped construct the political platform on which he rode to power creates an awkward question: Who exactly is the enemy – the godfather, or the voters waiting in vain for dividends of government?
There is also the IDP and anti-open grazing dilemma. Returning displaced persons to their ancestral communities was central to the promises and expectations surrounding Alia’s administration. Though the government reportedly launched a five-year N853 billion durable-solutions programme for return, reintegration and resettlement, and began tentative returns, critics however argue that the pace fell short of his promise to fully end IDP camps within a short time.
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Similarly, Alia initially reaffirmed that Benue’s anti-open grazing law remained in force. Later, however, he acknowledged difficulties enforcing it across state boundaries and argued that effective enforcement required a national policy. To his supporters, that is realism but to disappointed voters, especially attacked and deserted communities that have spent years in IDP camps, it was nothing less than compromise.
Then there is the leadership style question, with allegations that Alia is a petty tyrant who desires excessive influence over all spheres of the Benue’s political sphere. Those who apply this appellation to the governor often point to his quest to dominate the State House of Assembly. First, his quarrel with Akume originated from his insistence on the election of Hon. Hyacinth Aondona Dajoh Speaker of the Assembly, and secondly, when Dajoh seemed to have become independent-minded, Alia did not waste time orchestrating his exit. Though Alia denied involvement and reaffirmed separation of powers, in politics, denial does not necessarily erase suspicion but more or less confirm it.
Beyond the politics of electing a pliable speaker, there is the overwhelming speculation in Benue’s power circles that Alia micro manages the state’s ministries, parastatals and agencies as well as local governments councils. There is a general consensus that his adoption of this style of running a Catholic parish remains the major obstacle to accelerated development in the face of increased revenue.
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His critics also point to perceived nepotism with the allegations that Alia favours his Kunav kinsmen in important appointments. Whether right or wrong, any iota of fact in such allegation is politically potent in a state as sensitive to ethnic balancing as Benue. The establishment of the University of Agriculture, Science and Technology in Ihugh, his Vandeikya home town, similarly invited criticism from those who see it through the lens of favouritism, although the governor says the institution is intended to serve the state’s agricultural and human-capital needs.
The delicious irony in all of these dynamics is that, here is a Reverend Father who defeated conventional politicians in 2023 partly because he represented something morally cleaner than the traditional political class who must now defend himself against the very political habits voters once thought he had come to cleanse.
Of course, Alia may have already secured the APC governorship ticket for 2027, making the contest less about obtaining his party’s nomination than converting incumbency into a second mandate. His political salvation, therefore, will be determined by whether voters believe his administration deserves another four years, and even more importantly, whether he will, in the contest for re-election, be guided by the ethos of his Catholic faith.
Catholic theology teaches that forgiveness requires contrition, confession, amendment and, where necessary, reparation. Political forgiveness is not so different. A government can survive mistakes, but voters are less forgiving of mistakes that are denied, repeated or blamed on somebody else. Therefore, if Alia wants full political indulgence, he may need more than the usual campaign promises. The people may need evidence of true repentance in the form of better security, faster resettlement, broader political inclusion and clearer fiscal accountability.
In Catholicism, even venial sins can accumulate. In politics, so can disappointed voters. And unlike the confessional, the ballot box does not offer absolution before the verdict.
Onah is the Editor-in-Chief of NATIONAL RECORD and writes this column every Wednesday. Send reactions via email to: nationalrecordng@gmail.com, onahiduh@yahoo.co.uk. WhatsApp: +234 8033209749
