Shija Faults Governor Alia’s Policy on Security, Pledge Correction In 2027
Toryila Kajo, Makurdi
Governorship candidate on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), in Benue State, Professor Terhemba Shija, has faulted the lackadaisical approach governor Hyacinth Alia has taken in which many communities and lives have been lost arising from activities of invading terrorists attacks in the state under the administration.
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He pointed out that a situation where people have been displaced from their ancestral homes and ranched at the Internally Displaced camps across the state and denial of genocidal attack on Yelwata community are unacceptable as such would be reversed when the NDC formed government in the Benue come 2027 general election.
According to him, governor Alia inherited IDPs on assumption of office in 2023 and appeared to normalize it, noting that 271 people were massacred in Benue in one night and the present government is worried to surprise of many Nigerians.
“I will make the greatest of noise drawing international attention about the deplorable conditions of the displaced population in the state. It is absurding to see that Benue is continuously harbouring displaced camps. Terrorists must be faced squarely for peace to return to our communities”, Shija declared.
Playing host to members of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists’ at his Judges quarters Makurdi, the NDC governorship candidate stated that reseting Benue to restore what the first civilian governor Aper Aku laid from 1978 to 1983 before the military disrupted the political system will occupy the first line in his administration if elected as governor next year.
“Governor Aper Aku established Shelton hotel in Makurdi and since he left office in 1983, no succeeding governors has turn eyes to it. No portable drinking water in Makurdi metropolis after fifty years of Benue as a state. Those who follow my anticidence know that I will strike a difference, doing the opposite of what governor Alia is doing at the moment”, he assured.
Professor Shija who represented Jechira Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives in the past, decried a situation where local Government funds are hijacked by the state government thereby, denying council chairmen the opportunity in opening rural roads in order to stimulate the rural economy, assuring to allow the local Government system to function optimally to the advantage of residents.
The NDC governorship candidate also pointed out that he will take advantage of the continuous factions within the All Progressives Congress in the state to his favour, noting governor Alia will loose election in Konshisha, Vandeikya, Kwande, Ushongo and the Sankera axis where he failed to tackle rising insecurity, not to talk of Gboko/Tarka where senator Akume, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation comes from.
Shija explained that he can be elected governor of Benue state without the support of former governors he assisted in the past, listing employment, youth and women empowerment, rural transformation, agriculture, technology innovation and security of lives and properties as some of the agenda that will be vigorously pursued in alliance with the central government when he comes to power.
“Having come from the same local Government area with governor Alia, If elected, I will correct his misdeed in office for only four years and give way for another federal constituency to also taste power”, Shija posited.
Responding to a question, the former federal lawmaker, advised people of Benue South senatorial district to coordinate themselves well in agitating for power shift, saying their chances of becoming governor in Benue state are high.
He described his running mate as a man of vast experience and exposure, capable of joining forces with the administration to deliver the needed dividends of democracy to Benue in the course of time.
