Benue State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described Governor Hyacinth Alia’s shunning of a scheduled press briefing to mark his 100 days in office as an indication that he is bereft of any achievement since assuming office.
The party’s spokesperson Bemgba Iortyom who made the comment in a statement yesterday, described Alia as the first governor to run away from the accountability briefing of his first 100 days in office.
He said, “The governor clocked 100 days in office on Tuesday, 5th September, 2023, and his first 100 days in office have been characterized by what may best be described as emptiness and disappointment.”
The PDP recalls that Governor Alia himself, laid the template by which he should be assessed during his 100 days in office, when he promised to return to their homes persons displaced by killer herdsmen and also clear backlog of salaries and pensions arrears of workers and retirees.
“However, 24 hours after the 100 days mark, the governor has shied away from coming public to render account of his stewardship, as IDPs are still in camps and workers suffering a worse fate under a voodoo system of arbitrary deductions from their pay cheques, demotions and unlawful termination of their employment contracts”
Bemgba continued, “A governor who has all along run a sole administrator without a cabinet and all state financial accounts frozen and stored inside his briefcase, with he alone making withdrawals and expenditure from, certainly isn’t in any shape to face public accountability scrutiny”
The PDP described the act as a badge of dishonour and infamy as the first governor to run away from an accountability briefing at his first 100 days in office.
Efforts to speak with the governor’s chief press secretary Kula Tersoo failed as he neither picked his call nor replied to text messages sent to him.
After several hours of waiting for a scheduled 100 days in office media briefing by the governor which slated for 9am at the Government House, Makurdi, the deputy governor Sam Ode announced its postponement given reason that he was directed by the governor to put off the meeting indefinitely because Alia was involved in a crucial zoom meeting.
