PDP Calls Out Benue Gov, Alia Over Lopsided Appointments

The Benue State governor, Hyacinth Alia, has been called out by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state over his alleged lopsided appointments.

The Benue PDP had accused Alia of appointing the majority of his kinsmen into Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs, of government in the state, Naija News learned.

In a statement by the party’s state Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, in Makurdi, the governor was blamed for giving preference to his Kunav kinsmen from Vandeikya Local Government Area, LGA, of the state, in his appointments, in total disregard for the Federal Character principle.

The party reaction followed a Saturday’s statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Tersoo Kula, announcing Mr Raymond Asemakaha, a Kunav man, as the new Managing Director of the Benue Investment and Property Company, BIPC.

The PDP stated that “it has become necessary to raise protestation over Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia’s appointment of mostly persons from his Kunav clan as heads of MDAs in the state.

“Only this morning, the governor, through his Chief Press Secretary, announced the appointment of another Kunav man, Raymond Asemakaha, as MD/CEO of the Benue Investment and Property Company, BIPC.

“The appointment of Mr. Asemakaha at BIPC adds to the growing list of Kunav sons heading such bodies as the Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS), State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, which has another Kunav son heading the Committee at the State Assembly which oversights it.

“PDP in the state finds this development unacceptable as it blatantly negates the intendment of the principle of Federal Character enshrined in the constitution to ensure inclusivity of all parts of the state in the holding and wielding of the powers and influence vested in such sensitive positions as listed above.

“PDP is mindful that while merit is a consideration for making appointments into key and sensitive positions, Benue State is indeed in all its parts endowed with an abundance of competent persons to man the various offices of public trust.

“The preference by the governor for choosing mostly persons from his Kunav clan for appointment into the powerful public offices under his administration certainly does not bode well for unity, harmony, and public partnership necessary for the much sought-after progress of the state.

“PDP urges Governor Alia to borrow a leaf from the wisdom deployed under previous administrations when there was never such a concentration of power and influence in just one out of the numerous clans in the state.”