Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has clarified that he is not afraid of the advent of the ‘Rainbow Coalition’ in the state to champion the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Instead, he said the numerous people-oriented projects he embarked upon that cut across all sectors alone will continue to speak for him.
Governor Alia, who was reacting to comments by factional chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Austin Agada, that the rainbow coalition will teach him a political lesson in next year’s general elections, said he is not bothered about the political gang-up against him.
Agada had told reporters that Governor Alia has not given the Coalition any reason to support his re-election, and as such it will teach him a lesson in the 2027 elections.
Agada also accused the governor of disrespecting President Tinubu’s directive that incumbent political office holders who won elections on the APC platform be allowed to seek re-election, stressing that
the president’s proposal was widely accepted by party stakeholders, but Alia reportedly went on to support other aspirants against the arrangement.
“We accepted the proposal that every incumbent should be allowed to go for a second term, but the governor refused the proposal. He even allowed some of his cronies like Gabriel Suswam to take some members of the party to court”.
However, Governor Alia, during the encounter, questioned Agada’s political capacity to challenge his administration, stressing that his government remain focused on delivering democratic dividends to the people.
Governor Alia, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, noted that Agada had failed to deliver his Owukpa-Ehaje Council Ward in Ogbadibo Local Government Area to the APC during the 2023 general elections, stressing that he cannot decide what happened during the forthcoming elections.
He argued that, “Tinubu would not have won the election in Benue State without the strong support of Governor Alia, where in Vandeikya Local Government Area alone, Tinubu polled 22,000 votes of the total votes cast, followed by Ushongo LGA, where he scored 12,000 votes (where he the CPS) comes from as compared to Agada who failed to deliver his council ward to the APC during the 2023 general elections”.
The Governor Alia reiterated that he will remain committed to transforming Benue State and would not be distracted by political alignments or opposition ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
According to him, his government is intensifying efforts to implement reforms across critical sectors, with the hope of improving the living conditions of the citizenry.
He stated that his reform-driven approach informed the decision of the Tiv Traditional Council to confer on him the chieftaincy title of “The Reformer of Benue State”.
He noted that the challenges confronting his administration were not unexpected, given the nature of the reforms being implemented to address longstanding problems in the state.
He pointed out that his years of interaction with residents have given him a better understanding of their needs and the underlying causes of the challenges confronting the state, placing him in a vantage position to develop it better.
