A pro democracy and rule of law group, Defenders of Democracy (DoD) has called on Benue State Governor, Rev Hyacinth Alia, to, as a matter of urgency, address the people of Benue State and explain the source of the funds of “Alia Care”.
The group, in a press statement signed by the President, Comrade Amos Uchiv, on Saturday, also challenged Governor Alia to address the people on how much he has received as federal allocations and how much the state has generated as internal revenue since the beginning of June 2023.
Recall that Governor Alia, through his Commissioner for Cooperatives, Urban and Rural Development, Joy Luga, on Friday, announced the training for officials of associations and cooperatives in the state, who she said applied for the “Alia Care” Programme.
According to the announcement, the training will hold across the federal constituencies of the state.
The group while reacting, accused the Governor of renaming a Federal Government’s Conditional Cash Transfer programme as to mean “Alia Care”, adding that, the move, has made people in the rural communities to believe that he is the one arranging to give them money.
“Is the money contained in the supplementary budget that he recently sent to the Benue State House of Assembly? If the answer is no, he should cancel the name “Alia Care” and revert to the original name ‘Conditional Cash Transfer’ of the Federal Government.
“Governor Alia should also address the people on his handling of the palliatives sent to the state by the Federal Government. What did he do with the N5 billion? It is our right as a people to know!
“The Governor should similarly address the people on how much he has received as federal allocations and how much the state has generated as internal revenue since the beginning of June, 2023.
“We expect that Governor Alia will do the honourable thing and clear the air on the above issues quickly.”
