Hyacinth Alia, the Benue State Governor, has said he is not afraid of any coalition or gang-up put up by the aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some members of the opposition parties to destabilise his government and frustrate his 2027 Governorship ambition.
Tersoo Kula, Chief Press Secretary, stated this during a visit to the Correspondents in Makurdi, Benue State Capital.
Kula quoted the governor as saying, ‘As long as such coalition is not coming from the masses whom he represents, he is not bothered by any baseless political gang-up.’
The press secretary said Governor Alia’s 34 years in the priesthood, including extensive pastoral work on a motorbike across villages in Vandeikya, Okpokwu, Guma, Makurdi and other Local Governments, had given him intimate knowledge of the people’s need.
Yhe CPS was reacting to a comment by the embattled APC chairman, Austin Agada, who in his recent outing, alleged that APC had constituted a coalition code name ‘Rainbow Coalition’ for the 2027 general elections for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying ‘with this, we will show Governor Alia where he belongs’.
According to Kula, although the governor is not bothered about any coalition as long as it is not from the masses, such utterances are from political jobbers who do not have passion for the development and growth of the state.
‘I want to say here that both the coalition and unguided utterances have not taken the governor by surprise because whoever is keenly following the political trend in the state should anticipate this. The governor is a developer, a reformer and as you know such persons don’t have friends. People hate them because they are bringing change and development.
‘We don’t want to join issues with anyone. Our arms are open to anyone irrespective of political party who wants to join forces with the governor to bring back the Benue of our dreams and deliver the State,’ he said.
He noted that Governor Alia took the path of a reformer from inception, a disposition recognised by the Tiv Traditional Council, which conferred on him the title of reformist, ‘Asortar U Tiv’ adding that reformers inevitably attract opposition from entrenched interests.
Kula challenged critics to identify, who exactly is ganging up against the governor, asking whether it is journalists, farmers, civil servants, market women or direct beneficiaries of the ongoing reforms.
He dismissed threats from opposition elements, particularly singling out the the embattled APC chairman who is from Ogbadibo, whom he described as a crafty sellout who could not deliver his own polling unit and was suspended over allegations of collecting N50 million to trade off his party.