A Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Garus Gololo has urged President Bola Tinubu to impress on the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume to call his political loyalists at the National Assembly under the auspices of NASS Caucus to allow governor Hyacinth Alia concentrate on delivering good governance to the people of Benue State.
The National Assembly caucus from Benue State, under the platform of APC, had penultimate week accused the State governor, Hyacinth Alia of running the State government like a church parish.
The NASS caucus members also accused governor Alia of marginalising APC members and acting “dictatorial” in the running of the affairs of the State.
The leader of the caucus and Senator representing Benue North West, Senator Titus Zam had at a press conference said governor Alia’s tendencies could cost the party a defeat in subsequent elections in the State.
Senator Zam added that the matter had been reported severally to Senator Akume, the (SGF) who he said has been mediating to see that things were normalised.
However, addressing a press conference on Sunday in Kaduna, Gololo called on the SGF to allow governor Alia concentrate on delivering good governance to the people of the State.
The APC Chieftain added that Senator Akume should remember that he himself did eight years as governor of the State, and therefore he should allow governor Alia to do eight years too, instead of lording himself as Alia’s Godfather.
According to Gololo, “The purpose of calling this press conference is that as a party Chieftain, when you see something wrong, you take precautions before it happens. One of those things is that the party has been in crisis for long time but we want the party to have unity, no matter the State, where you come from.
On Thursday (last week), I saw a press conference of the APC caucus in Benue which was led by Dr. Zam, a Senator from Benue State. He made mention of the leader of the party from the State, that is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, who was the former governor of Benue State and later a minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“He said the governor, His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia was not carrying the APC chieftains along in Benue State. He said the governor is running a one man show in the State, amongst other accusations.
“We have to put the record straight. Presently, one of the wives of SGF, is a House of Representatives member, representing Gboko, Buruku, Makurdi, Gwer East, Gwer West and his other wife is a member of the Benue State House of Assembly which he(Akume) claimed the governor never support to be the Speaker of the House.
“With Akume’s wife a member of the House of Representatives and another a member of the State house of Assembly, what do Akume wants again? Politics is not hereditary. If it’s hereditary, then, it would have been okay for all members of his family to be entitled to whatever positions deem fit by him (Akume).
“Akume presented somebody as governor, let him allow him to perform. After all, he was there for eight years and he was allowed to govern the State. He doesn’t need to bring somebody to power and dictate for him on how to govern the State. Akume should allow him to deliver the dividend of democracy to the people of Benue State, according to his promises during the campaign.
“Akume is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and he is not allowing his governor to breathe. There is no need for that. Akume brought Senator Gabriel Suswan, they had problem; he brought Samuel Ortom, he equally had problem with Ortom and now he is having problem with Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia.
“Akume should understand that leadership is from God. Alia is the number one citizen of Benue State and he should be allowed to govern the way he should be. The governor is at liberty to pick people who should work with him.
“I want Akume to allow the governor to govern the State and to do what he promised the people as a Reverend Father before he became the governor to do, so as to deliver his promise to the people. What does Akume really want? Akume should allow the governor to be and if the governor should go wrong, he can caution him. He should not be selfish by just picking quarrel with the governor”. Gololo said.
Gololo alleged that Akume instigated the crisis between the NASS caucus and governor Alia, saying that, “Of course, Akume is the one instigating the current crisis between the APC caucus members and the governor. All of them are his boys. Even if Akume brought all of them into power, the governor was already popular before coming on board as a governor.
“The whole crisis started when Akume’s younger wife wanted to become the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly and the governor said no! The wife, Becky was the former Chairman of Gboko LGA. She was also Akume’s Secretary when he was the Minister and now, he wants her to be the Speaker. Even if I am the one, I will say no.
“Akume should allow the man (governor) to do his job and I am calling on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the matter before it gets out of hand. Let him call the SGF (Akume) to order in order to allow him perform his job as the executive governor and chief security officer of the State. As governor for eight years, nobody interfered with his style of governance. He should allow peace to reign in Benue State”.
On whether governor Alia will succumb to political pressure from Caucus members and decamp to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Gololo said, “The governor doesn’t have any intention of going to the PDP. What’s PDP? If he goes to the PDP, he knows that is the end of the road for him. He can never try it. He’s a man of his words. He’s a man of God, when he said something, he abide by what he said. He can’t defect to PDP but George Akume should allow him to breathe to carry Benue State to greater heights”.
SOURCE:THE SUN