From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
A civil Society group known as Benue Patriots, BP, has frowned at the crisis between the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF Sen. George Akume and Benue State Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia.
The group at a press conference in Makurdi on Sunday which it tagged, ‘State of Affairs in Benue an urgent need to salvage it. Let Benue breath’, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene quickly to avoid it degenerating.
This comes against the backdrop of comments made by the Governor during a reception organized recently for him by supporters of the All Progressives Congress, APC to celebrate his victory at the Election Petition Tribunal where he said that there is no crisis between him and the SGF.
Governor Alia accused some elements of trying to cause disharmony and disunity in the State by imputing that there is a squabble between him and the leader of the party in the State.
But President of the group Comrade Daniel Boor insist that there are glaring signs that things are not well.
Hear him, “during the inauguration of ministers, has anyone bordered to ask why the Governor did not attend the reception in honor of the minister for Water Resources Prof. Joseph Utsev even when he was in Abuja? It may sound so trivial but there are issuee. It was at the event that the unholy alliance between Akume and Ortom started. If you have a child that cannot speak and he is sick, won’t you know?
“This is the third person Akume will bring as Governor and consistently he has fallen out with them. From Suswam, he could not finish four (4) years together, the excuse that he was demanding to be settled from the State treasury. Same with Ortom it also bordered on persisitent requests. He is pulling strings especially on appointments in the State. He wants his relations to be appointed in Benue State Internal Revenue Services, BIRS,Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, BSIEC, State Emergency Management Agency,SEMA, Water Board, State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB and Social Investment Programme.
