African Democratic Congress (ADC) has chided the Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hycinth Alia, alleging corruption and ineptitude.
ADC gave this indication during its Benue Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation.
Find below the full speech.
AFRICAN DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGN ORGANISATION
Good day dear Colleagues, Leaders, Party Executives, Campaign Council Members and all members of the African Democratic Congress here and those watching from elsewhere.
It is my utmost pleasure to address you today on this auspicious occasion of the inauguration of the Benue State ADC Campaign Council.
The ADC is a Party that has come at a time like this to liberate a country held captive by people who should have never, in the first place, been allowed anywhere near power in
Nigeria.
In contesting the Presidency in 2023, what did Tinubu say was the reason he wanted to be President? He said Emi Lokan. It is my turn. Nothing more.
In Benue State the case was mostly similar, Father Alia came out to contest the position of governor with no message, no promises, no commitment, and no experience. He simply said he had been a healer and an exorcist and would bring healing to Benue.
Healing!
Today a combination of Emi Lokan in Abuja and the Alia Healing in Benue have guaranteed poverty, pain, anguish, death and destruction in our state and country. The suffering in Nigeria today and particularly in Benue State under the Tinubu/Alia APC is unprecedented. All while we watch daily as they live in luxury as they ask ordinary citizens to endure and “Sacrifice”.
This pain they brought upon the country must have been well thought out and even scripted. They knew we the citizens would be made to suffer this untold hardship, they knew we would be pained and would seek to remove them from office at the first available legitimate opportunity so, they set out to make their removal impossible.
They tasked a certain federal Minister to destroy the main opposition party, at the time, the PDP, to guarantee that there would be no challenge to their evil government in 2027.
They also clamped down on and “Occupied” all other political parties to ensure they would not be used in challenging Tinubu and his APC in 2027. All governors of other political parties were coerced into the APC whiles those who couldn’t defect made will commit state funds and engaged with the federal government to bring back school feeding.
In Benue State, Alia was overwhelmingly elected as governor. He was elected without interrogation, without needing to make any commitments. Any invitation to scrutinize his antecedents was waved away as an attempt to oppose the will of God. The warnings of the Bishops on the dangers of electing a man they knew and had no confidence in, was also met with deaf ears.
Today, Governor Alia governs a state that has the most money it ever had in its entire history. Sadly, he has nothing but a few uncompleted fantasy projects to show for it. Only recently, he welcomed Remi Tinubu, who came to commission his few completed projects, three and a half years into his term. What was she presented with to commission? Eleven Kilometers of road, a training center in Ihugh and a few wishywashy things here and there. All this at a time when Benue has received humongous sums of money from several sources.
Benue State Audited Financial Reports 2023-2025 and Benue State Budget Implementation Report 2026 Q2 state that Benue State got N 1.1 trillion from 2023-June 2026. It states that of that sum:
- 782 Bn was from FAAC
- 91 Bn from IGR
- Aids and Grants 223 Bn
- Proceeds from sales 46 m
- Loans 11 Bn
- Palliatives 5 Bn
These are their own figures. We may have ours but let us rely on theirs’ which they have owned.
Of the above figures, Governor Alia, per his own financial reports, say he spent N130 Billion on roads! He says he spent N36 Billion on health, 27 billion on Agriculture and 27 billion on Education. It is left for you, my colleagues, to assess on ground to see the impact of these huge monies they claim to have so far spent.
Governor Alia also says he spent 7 billion on Housing, N10 billion on security, 14 billion on water provision and N2 billion on electricity. My question is where?
Let us take a look at his spread of capital projects across the three senatorial districts of Benue state.
- Zone A: He says they have spent 17 billion in the zone, of which 15 billion was spent in Vandeikya LGA where he hails from. Only he can tell us where 2 billion was spent.
- Zone B: He says he spent 37 billion in the zone, of which 314 billion was spent in Makurdi. I’m guessing the underpass and the 11 km’s of roads is what he refers to.
- Zone C: He says he has spent 8 billion in this zone with Otukpo getting the Bulk share of 4 billion. Only God knows where that is or where the other 4 billion was spent.
Governor Alia promised Local Government Autonomy and even lied that it is being implemented in Benue State. Truth is, no such thing is happening.
Here is what the cumulative income to local governments has been as per their own report.
Total monies collected by all LGAs 2023-2025 = 383 billion Naira
Break down
Zone A. 124 billion – Katsina Ala = 18 billion
Konshisha = 18 billion
Kwande = 19.5 billion
Logo = 16 billion
Ukum = 17.5 billion
Ushongo = 17 billion
Vandeikya = 18 billion
Zone B. 121 billion – Buruku = 17 billion
Gboko = 22 billion
Guma = 17.5 billion
Gwer West = 15 billion
Tarka = 13 billion
Gwer East = 17 billion
Makurdi = 19 billion
Zone C. 138 billion – Ado = 17 billion
Agatu = 14 billion
Apa = 14 billion
Obi = 14 billion
Ogbadibo = 15 billion
Ohimini = 13 billion
Oju = 16 billion
Okpokwu = 16 billion
Otukpo = 19 billion
Source: FAAC 2023-2025
Ladies and gentlemen, this governor is a Priest, Priest don’t have wives, don’t have children, don’t steal, so, where is all this money?
Let us talk a bit about insecurity: As far as this goes, nothing can be worse than the Alia era. Our people have suffered persecution, death and displacement from ancestral lands while he has worked over timeto downplay their suffering. It took months of killings in Ukum and anti-government protests for him to finally visit the area, he down played the casualty figures of the Yelewata massacre, he accused the people of Gwer East of stealing cows and blamed their theft on the killings of two reverend Fathers and a number of worshipers in Masev land. He calls these heinous crimes against our people mere skirmishes; he disagrees with the Pope and the US government on their characterization of these killings and has outrightly accused us, Benue people, of killing ourselves. What a man!
No wonder Cardinal Onaiyekan says he is not a Priest.
When elected, we will guarantee qualitative primary education, free of charge with feeding for the pupils. We will guarantee qualitative primary health care, free of charge.
We will guarantee rural roads and commensurate infrastructure in all our communities. We will guarantee complete local government autonomy, allow local governments to determine their project priorities and have the right to hire, promote, discipline and fire their own staff without interference of any other arm of government.
Most importantly, we will not be greedy and we will allow for our State to develop and catch up with the committee of States. We are not a cursed people and must make progress.
God willing, you, our Campaign Council, will work to have him voted out in February 2027 so that we can together, save Benue.
You must also work to have our wonderful Senatorial& House of Representatives and State Assembly Candidates elected.
It starts on the 16th of January, our brothers in the North are voting Atiku Abubakar. The odds favour him to win. We in Benue State cannot be left out. We must guarantee our fair representation in an Atiku/Amaechi Federal Government by working to deliver victory in Benue to the ADC from Top to Bottom.
Thank you.
Rt. Hon. Herman Iorwase Hembe
Gubernatorial candidate ADC Benue state
