By Sam Tyav, Makurdi
From the inner closet of Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has come a direct brick wall against his 2007 re-election aspiration.
His kinsmen from the governor’s Kunav community, Vandeikya Local Government Area (LGA), have called for his replacement as the state’s Chief Executive in 2027.
This is as Alia insists that he has six more years to complete his eight years as governor with his loyalists in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) repeatedly voicing it loudly that there is no vacancy in Government House, Makurdi, the state’s seat of power, in 2027.
The governorship hopefuls in Vandeikya,who are from different political parties, include Professors Dennis Ityavyar, Paul Angya; Mr. Joseph Ways, Mr. Godwin Tyoachimin and Dominic Acha.
They have resolved that Gov. Alia be replaced with another Kunav man.
Addressing journalists in Makurdi, weekend, spokesman of the group, Professor Angya disclosed that the governorship tenure for Jechira ethnic sub-group, to which Alia reportedly belongs, is eight years maximum, with the first term billed to end in 2027, pointing out that another Jechira man, preferably a Kunav person, would succeed Gov. Alia to complete the sub-group’s remaining years in office.
The coalition did not, however, say who, when or where such tenure arrangement was reached.
The spokesman said that any member of the group could succeed the governor, explaining that holders of the state’s top seat from all the geopolitical zones did eight years and so Jechira too has to do eight years.
The aspirants who titled their press briefing ‘Benue at Fifty: Reflection, Responsibility and the Future we must Claim’, also highlighted some achievements of the state’s previous governors.
Professor Angya revealed that in 2024, the State Government generated N20.43 billion and got over N400 billion from federal allocation, lamenting that, despite these, “salaries remain irregular, Ministries operate below capacity, overheads go unpaid, infrastructure decays, public accounts lack transparency and no coherent development plan.”
Furthermore, the group said: “Benue State currently operates without a documented economic blueprint, an agro industrial value- chain.plan, a private sector engagement framework, a public sector reform agenda and security masterplan consistent with constitutional obligations.”
While lamenting the growing insecurity in the state which they said “has continued to claim innocent lives”, the aspirants also pointed to the recent attack on Abande community in Turan, Kwande LGA, where “at least 17 people, including a Mobile Police officer, were killed, dozens injured, homes, stalls and properties burnt, families displaced and livelihoods destroyed.”
They noted that Benue has remained home to one of the largest internally displaced persons (IDP) populations in Nigeria with many inmates living without adequate shelter, food supply, medical care and without protection.
While revealing that their intention “was not to attack personalities but to defend constitutional values and the future of the state,” the coalition opined that Benue “deserves security, transparency, peace, economic transformation, respect for constitutional rights and leadership that unites not divides.”
They called on the Federal Government, security agencies, humanitarian partners and the international community to intensify support to Benue, particularly for the displaced persons and communities vulnerable to attack.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Members of the guber coalition…at the briefing.
