The Peoples Democratic Party in Benue State has called on Governor Rev Fr. Hyacinth Alia to provide a detailed account of the utilization of the N44 billion in special intervention grants received from the Federal Government between August 2023 and 2024.
The opposition party in the state, through its State Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, made the call while reacting to the submission of the leader of the All Progressive Congress in the state, Senator Tilley Gyado, that N44 billion in the form of intervention funds had been accrued to the state in the past nine months.
Gyado, who spoke at the APC stakeholders meeting in Makurdi on Sunday had listed the special intervention funds accrued to the state. He listed these funds as N5 billion for post-subsidy removal, N9 billion for infrastructural development, and N30 billion for sub-national interventions.
Nevertheless, the state government, along with other states, refuted claims made by the Senate President, Senator Godwin Akpabio, regarding the receipt of N30 billion.
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The PDP in the state labelled the statement made by the APC leader as ‘shocking’, stating that the governor had not revealed any receipt of such funds apart from the post-subsidy removal (palliatives) fund which, after much pressure from our end, he had accepted having received in part N2 billion, and thereafter had kept sealed lips over the outstanding N3 billion.
“If there was a N9 billion infrastructure fund and a N30 billion Sub-national intervention fund, the people of Benue State are only getting to know about it from the APC statement, and this by all standards of transparency and accountability is unacceptable.
“PDP is saddened that this non-disclosure of N44 billion federal intervention grants by Governor Alia reinforces his policy of concealment and disregard for due process and the rule of law which underpin a style of governance that is in character a sole administratorship.”
The opposition party urged the governor to be transparent and reveal the details of how he had used the N44 billion special grants. Failure to do so would only deepen the cloud of suspicion surrounding his administration.
