The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, says the lingering feud between Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue state and leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state has vindicated its sustained outcry over the misrule of the present administration in the state.
The party in a statement weekend by its State Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom noted with shock that the crisis had deteriorated so badly that the National Assembly caucus of the party urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the matter.
The party in the statement said, like every well-meaning Nigerian it “watched in shock the SOS sent by the Benue State Caucus of the APC in the National Assembly, NASS, to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu entreating his intervention to save the state from the disastrous misrule of Governor Alia who shares the same political platform with them.
“In the full glare of the global press, 11 out of the 12 members of the Benue APC NASS Caucus were present and took turns raising very grave concerns over Governor Alia’s manner of governance ranging from authoritarian and emergency-style running of the affairs of government, without regard for due process, the rule or law, or consultation and inclusivity in decision making, as well as corruption and mismanagement of public resources.
“It was indeed a crying shame to see the government of Benue State called out in such abysmally low manner, and with such sordid details.”
The PDP said. “But true to character, the Governor, through his Chief Press Secretary, rather than tow the path of reason, opted for ad hominem hurling insults at the NASS members as well as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume, whom he accused of being behind his travails and christened him in unstately language as the ‘Maitama Saint.’
“Governor Alia also claimed that the NASS members and the ‘Maitama Saint’ ‘…keep boasting about how they have concluded arrangements to manipulate the Supreme Court judgement in favour of the PDP candidate who has agreed to defect and join the APC.’
“PDP finds such a claim by the governor as not only laughable, but also a cheap attempt to discredit the solid and unassailable litigation process that the party and its candidate Engr. Titus Uba have staged with painstaking details to prove that APC through willful default did not field candidates in 2023 Governorship Election in Benue State; the matter which is now before the Supreme Court.
“We regret that the outcry of the Benue APC NASS Caucus only confirms the repeated warnings we have for some time now consistently raised over the incompetence and voodoo style of governance adopted by the Benue State Governor.