Benue PDP condemns constitution of LG care taker committees by Gov. Alia

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, Benue State chapter has condemned the constitution of local government care taker committees by Governor Hyacinth Alia’s government.
The party in a press statement signed by its Publicity Secretary Chief Bemgba Iortyom on Thursday which was made available to the media, described the constitution of the care taker committees as a ‘disdain’ to the rule of law and mockery to the Governor’s promise for local government autonomy.
The party maintained that the care taker committees were constituted without the mandatory enabling law enacted by the Benue State House of Assembly stipulating their form and tenure, neither were the heads of those committees so appointed screened by the Legislature as required by law.
PDP recalled that while campaigning for the Governorship in the 2023 elections, Governor Alia had loudly, publicly promised to grant autonomy to the local government tier of administration if voted into office, stressing before the electorate that all that will be needed to do that is “the will, political will”.
The party however,noted that since his assumption of office, Governor Alia’s approach towards the running of the affairs of the local government councils has been characterized by contempt for one court order after another, all of them upholding the tenure of the councils duly elected into office before he became governor, and restraining him or any other authority from tampering with the legitimate mandate of those councils which still subsists.
“Recall that 23 Council Chairmen in Benue State were elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the April 30, 2022 local council elections conducted by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC), and they were sworn into office on June 29, 2022 to a definite tenure of 2 years as enshrined in the Local Government Establishment Law of the state: that tenure expires on June 28, 2024.”