- Benue State PDP criticizes Governor Alia for allegedly appointing local government caretaker committees without due legislative process and screening
- PDP accuses the governor of disregarding court orders and pledges related to local government autonomy during his election campaign
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State has criticized Governor Hyacinth Alia for allegedly disregarding due process and the rule of law in appointing caretaker committees for the state’s local government areas.
On Thursday, the state’s PDP Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, accused the governor of announcing the caretaker committees for the 23 local government council administrations through the radio and other media channels without the necessary enabling law enacted by the Benue State House of Assembly. According to Iortyom, the heads of these committees were not screened by the legislature, as mandated by law.
Iortyom highlighted that during Governor Alia’s campaign for the 2023 elections, he promised to grant autonomy to the local government tier, emphasizing the need for “the will, political will” to achieve this. However, since assuming office, the governor’s actions towards the local government councils have allegedly shown contempt for court orders upholding the tenure of the previously elected councils.
The 23 council chairmen in Benue State were elected under the PDP during the April 30, 2022 local council elections. They were sworn into office on June 29, 2022, for a defined two-year tenure according to the Local Government Establishment Law of the state. However, they were removed from office after the present administration took over, and the House of Assembly recommended their suspension over alleged financial misappropriation.
As of the time of this report, Tersoo Kula, the governor’s spokesman, had not responded to calls or messages.