By Isaac Kertyo, Makurdi
Benue State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia has assured citizens of the state of his administration’s commitment to right the wrongs to rekindle hope in the electorate for a better Benue.
The Governor who gave this assurance on Monday in his address to Benue people to mark Democracy Day anniversary, acknowledged the role of Benue citizens over their overwhelming support which gave them victory at the polls.
“Fellow Citizens, it is on the wings of democracy that we have been given the privilege to serve Benue people, and we don’t take this privilege for granted. We will always count on your prayers, cooperation and support to succeed.
We assure you that, we are not a government for a particular party, any ethnic group or any religion. As a matter of fact, we are not for Benue indigenes, we see all legitimate Benue residents as our people and we will always treat them fairly, with respect and decorum.”
Rev Fr Alia noted that for the past twenty four unbroken years, Nigerians have firmly resolved that the democratic culture of chosing who to led them through the ballots is the best.
Counting, he pointed out that the benefits that we made and are making from democracy both at the National, State and Local Government level were enormous.
According to the Governor, history was made in 2019 in Nigeria’s democratic journey when June 12 was finally recognized and formally adopted as Nigeria’s Democracy Day by former President Buhari, averring that June 12 has become a symbol in our democratic journey.
“It was on this day that Nigerians overwhelmingly voted Chief MKO Abiola as their President, but that election was annulled by the then Military President, Gen Ibrahim Babangida”, he said.
In another development, the Governor explained why the present administration nullified all appointments made into Benue Civil Service by the immediate past government, stating that the said recruitments and appointments were full of irregularities without budgetary provision as well as failure to observe the character principles in making the said appointments.
His words: “We owe you a few explanations on few key decisions we have taken so far. On the issue of recruitments and appointments, we noticed that it was full of irregularities.”
Governor Alia assured civil servants and pensioners that government would clear backlog of arrears of salaries and pensions beginning from 25th of this month. Ends
