Benue PDP slams Assembly over N100bn loan approval to Gov Alia

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Benue State Chapter, has criticised the approval of an N100 billion loan request by Governor Hyacinth Alia’s administration, describing the move as reckless, insensitive, and lacking transparency.

In a statement signed by the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Tim Nyor, the PDP said it viewed with “utmost dismay and strong disapproval” the decision of the Benue State House of Assembly to give what it termed a “hasty and ill-considered” approval to the governor’s latest loan request.

The opposition party argued that the loan was unjustified given the substantial increase in federal allocations to the state since the removal of fuel subsidies. It claimed that the Alia-led government had already received “colossal sums running into several hundreds of billions of naira” for both state and local governments.

“Against this backdrop, the decision to plunge Benue into another cycle of debt raises grave questions about transparency, accountability, and fiscal discipline,” the statement read.

The PDP queried the purpose of the loan, its alignment with the 2025 budget, and the mechanisms for ensuring it benefits the people rather than “disappearing into opaque channels of political patronage and contract inflation.”

According to the statement, the recurring pattern of borrowing by the administration without clear justification portrays a government “bereft of sound financial judgment and driven by short-term expediency.”

The party warned that the continuous accumulation of debts would mortgage the state’s future, burdening generations yet unborn with liabilities that offer no tangible developmental value.

The PDP further called on the Benue State House of Assembly to “retrace its steps and act in the true spirit of checks and balances, rather than as a mere rubber stamp of the executive.”

“History will not absolve any institution or individual that aids the reckless plundering of our collective patrimony,” the statement concluded, reaffirming the party’s commitment to defending the interests of the Benue people and exposing any acts of financial impropriety or misgovernance.