Benue LGA funds: Onjeh condemns invitation of govt officials by Reps

By Christiana Ekpa

Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Benue South Senatorial District in the 2023 general election, Comrade Daniel Onjeh, has condemned in strong terms the invitation extended to some aides of the Benue State governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, over the alleged misappropriation of N20billion local government funds in the state, describing it as a mere extension of their scheme to discredit Governor Alia.
In a press release issued yesterday, Onjeh accused the members of the Benue State Caucus of the National Assembly of orchestrating the invitation as part of a larger plot to disparage and distract the people-oriented leadership of Governor Alia.
He said the Benue NASS Caucus was only amplifying the ululations of disgruntled stakeholders in the state, who were finding it difficult to accept and adjust to the new order of governance in Benue State, characterised by the judicious utilisation of the state’s statutory allocations and revenues as introduced by the Rev. Fr. Alia administration as against the old order of sharing monthly allocations amongst the elite and stakeholders.
“Fr. Alia has introduced a total departure from the old order of sharing monthly allocations amongst stakeholders. We know exactly what they are feeling, but they just have to accept and endure it because Fr. Alia is adopting the bottom-top approach to governance. The elites and stakeholders have had their fair share in the past; Fr. Alia is now determined to offer a new lease of life to the long-neglected Benue masses. That’s why he can now pay salaries, pensions and gratuities regularly in the state.
“Meanwhile, the projects that the governor’s detractors are making so much fuss over all have timelags. It’s not like when a government policy or project is pronounced and commissioned, it must be fully implemented on the same day, even though it might have officially commenced. So, because these elites are no longer receiving monthly largesses from the state government, and they are not seeing some projects yet on ground, they are quick to erroneously conclude that the funds earmarked for the projects have been misappropriated by the state government. Why are they in such a hurry, after all, Fr. Alia has actually just started the re-engineering of Benue,” stated Onjeh.
Furthermore, Onjeh highlighted the previous attempt by the Senate to smear the governor through false accusations of dissolving democratically elected local government council officials.
“The Benue APC National Assembly Caucus,” Onjeh stated, “had not concealed its plot to discredit Governor Alia for whatever they hoped to achieve. For months now, they have embarked on a coordinated relentless attack on the governor. They used his appointment of caretaker committee chairmen and councillors for the 23 local government areas in Benue State as an excuse to launch their smear and slander campaign against the governor,” he added.