Governor of Benue State, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia has advised the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to seek forgiveness, for what it described as its 8 years of maladministration.
The Governor who was commenting on the reaction of PDP over his sack of workers that were employed in the twilight of the government of the immediate past Governor of the state, Samuel Ortom said the appointments by his predecessor were done in bad fate.
In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Sir Kula Tersoo and made available to SportsDay in Makurdi on Thursday, Alia stressed that rather than being confrontational, the PDP should have sought forgiveness from the people of the state for its actions.
Governor Alia wondered why Ortom who did not make any appointments in the past 7 years of his government would suddenly wake up at the end of his tenure and appoint civil servants across all strata of the service
According to Kula, “There is no doubt that the Executive Governor of Benue State, Rev Fr. Hyacinth, Iormem Alia, has hit the ground running. In less than two weeks after assuming office, the Governor has taken key decisions and deliberate steps that have received applause from the majority of the Benue electorate.
“From the key decisions and his approach to governance so far, Benue people are basking in a renewed hope that the Governor will fulfil his campaign promises.
“It is rather pathetic that the PDP, the same party whose maladministration imposed untold pains and penury on the people of the state, had during a Press Conference on Wednesday, June 7th, 2023, called for the reversal of the decisions that their leader, former governor, Samuel Ortom, took.
“For a start, the PDP as the main opposition party in the state must be commended for settling down quickly to play the role of the opposition.
“But the party should not go overboard to make the Benue people angrier, bearing in mind that the party has not been forgiven for the unprecedented devastation it caused the people of the state. It must only raise issues that will contribute to reclaiming the lost glory of the state, an unfortunate experience that was perpetrated by their leadership.
“The PDP is not ignorant of the fact that all the appointments and recruitments that were carried out by former governor Samuel Ortom at the twilight of his administration, were not done in good fate.”
Kula argued further that “Is it not curious that for more than 7 years, Ortom could not employ indigents of the state into the Civil Service, until a few months to the expiration of his tenure?
“This suspicious move should prick the conscience of the PDP to question the motive of the former governor rather than shift the blame to Rev Fr. Alia and his new administration; thankfully, Governor Alia warned about it before and after he was elected into office.
“It is even more ironic that the PDP, that is now crying wolf, left government house owing salaries of Benue Civil Servants from December 2022 to May 2023. The same PDP administration left salary arrears of 5 months for state government workers in 2017; 10 months for Local Government workers in the same year, 2017. Under this same PDP government, pensions were last paid in the year 2021.
“Additionally, the PDP government presided over a severely demotivated bureaucracy in the state. Yet, all former governor Ortom and the PDP could do was to conduct a sham recruitment exercise, instead of clearing the pending arrears. This is a moral burden that should worry the former governor and his conscienceless adherents.
“We believe this is the hardship the PDP satirically spoke about during their press conference”, the CPS stated.
