Comrade Daniel Onjeh, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the Benue South Senatorial District in the 2023 general election, has condemned the invitation extended to some aides of the Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Petitions.
OsunDailyNG reports that the House had summoned the Special Adviser to Governor Alia on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dennis Akura, and others for allegedly embezzling N20 billion belonging to the 23 local government councils of the state.
The state government had since debunked the report, urging the general public to disregard the ‘fake news’ by Global Integrity Crusade Network, GICN.
Reacting to the invitation, Onjeh, in a statement he personally signed on Tuesday, described the move by members of the House as a “mere extension of the lawmaker’s mischievous scheme to discredit Governor Alia”.
He noted that the Benue NASS caucus’s actions must be resisted at all costs, saying Denis Akura had “clarified the issues the faceless group raised”.
The APC chieftain stressed that if the lawmakers were not satisfied with the clarification, “they should wait for the EFCC and ICPC to conclude their investigations, following the petition they submitted to the anti-corruption bodies”.
Onjeh also tackled Senator Abah Moro over his call for the withholding of Benue State local government funds.
He stressed that “the State House of Assembly is the only body charged with the responsibility of regulating the activities of the local governments in the state”.
The APC chieftain opined that until Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution is amended to grant full financial and administrative autonomy to the local governments, anything done to the contrary by the National Assembly will be mere window dressing.
“At this point, granting LGAs full autonomy is what the lawmakers should dissipate their energy on, if they are sincere. But as it is now, everything concerning LGAs is still under the State Houses of Assembly’s purview”, he added.
OsunDailyNG reports that a leadership crisis is currently rocking the state chapter of the ruling party, fueling several allegations.
