It’s unpatriotic to politicise insecurity – Onjeh tells Abba Moro, Benue federal lawmakers

Comrade Daniel Onjeh, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and former Chairman of the PRODA Governing Board, has issued a firm warning to Benue State’s National Assembly Caucus, led by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Abba Moro.

Onjeh cautioned them to stop politicizing the security challenges facing the state, urging lawmakers to prioritize the safety of Benue residents.

His remarks follow a recent press conference by the Benue State National Assembly Caucus, where they criticized the state government’s dissolution of elected councils and the subsequent appointment of caretaker committees.

The Caucus expressed concerns about the effectiveness of these committees in addressing grassroots insecurity.

However, Onjeh in a statement on Tuesday, accused the Caucus of launching coordinated attacks aimed at undermining Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacint Alia’s administration.

He urged lawmakers to focus on their legislative duties instead of engaging in political maneuvers that could jeopardize the lives of citizens.

Onjeh questioned the sudden outcry from the Caucus under the current leadership, urging them to provide concrete evidence to support their claims about the root causes of insecurity in the state.

He further accused the Caucus of attempting to undermine Governor Alia’s achievements and disrupt governance to serve their political interests. He emphasized the strides made by the Alia administration in addressing long-standing issues such as salary payment and infrastructure development.

His statement below;

“The reliable information that Rev. Fr. Alia has received from the security forces as the cause of the spike in insecurity across the state is totally different from what the federal lawmakers are alleging. So, could it be that there is something the NASS Caucus knows, which we the Benue people do not know, as the true cause of the deteriorating insecurity in the state? If Sen. Moro and his co-travelers in the Benue NASS Caucus are holding back some secrets, now is the time for them to kindly reveal it,” stated Onjeh.

“Yet, Fr. Alia has achieved much more that any of the past governors of the state since the start of the Fourth Republic. What most of them presented to the Benue people as rocket science, Rev. Fr. Alia has been able to achieve seamlessly from the inception of his administration. Now, they will want to say that payment of salaries and pension is nothing, but hitherto, they made Benue people to believe it was an insurmountable challenge. Rev. Fr. Alia was able to fix that lingering problem in no time. Therefore, it is a very huge achievement. Indeed, civil servants are the life and soul of the public service, and if you don’t pay them their salaries and wages, you diminish their spirit and reduce their capacity and efficiency, thereby affecting the delivery on government policies and programs,” stated Onjeh.

“So the kernel of their plot is to stop Fr. Alia’s second term by doing everything possible to disorganize his government, and in their thinking, possibly move for his removal from office. These are all their plots, and they are clear for all Benue people to see. I wish to liken them to tiny fishes swimming in their aquarium, but under the illusion that they are in a mighty ocean where they cannot be seen or reached. But we are keenly watching them and seeing everything they are doing. We can easily reach out to them from any corner of their aquarium. All that is playing out is a poorly written script,” stated Onjeh.

“After their initial attack, the true masquerades behind the onslaught on Fr. Alia were unveiled. The Members of the APC came out openly to attack Fr. Alia over the same issue of constituting Caretaker Committees for the Benue Local Governments, simply because they were not given the opportunity to nominate their cronies into caretaker committee executive positions. Suddenly, they are making so much fuss about constituting of caretaker committees for local governments,” stated Onjeh.

“The issue of local government caretaker committees is a trend currently seen almost all over Nigeria, and there are equally security challenges in the other states that have these caretaker committees in place. But their own National Assembly Members, in their wisdom, have not arisen to attribute the insecurity in their states to the constitution of local government caretaker committees.

“So the Benue NASS Caucus is just making puerile statements to justify the herders’ incessant attacks on their constituents, by linking those attacks to the dissolution of so-called ‘democratically-elected’ local government administrations in Benue State. I find their action quite strange, and rather undemocratic and uncharitable to the Benue State electorate that voted them into the National Assembly,” stated Onjeh.

“The LG Chairman of Okpokwu at that time said the attack by the herdsmen was unprovoked. Why did Moro not come out then to say that it was because Ortom was not releasing money to the local government that the herders attacked? He did not say that because it was convenient for him. Of course, he produced the Chairman of the local government. This is actually the first time that he is losing control of his local government, so he is feeling empty. His Motion on the floor of the Senate was about the constitution of local government caretaker committees, and his attacks on Fr. Alia ever since have been tailored along that line,” stated Onjeh.

“All their actions are premeditated to discredit Fr. Alia, a failed attempt to move for his impeachment and ensure that he does not return to office for a second term. But the decision is not theirs to make. It is only God Almighty who sees 2027. One thing that is clear however is that the more they are trying to pull down Fr. Alia, the more his popularity is soaring. The Benue people cannot be deceived anymore. They know that no governor, since the return to democracy in 1999, has achieved what Fr. Alia has achieved thus far. Nobody has shown vision and direction of governance thus far in the state like Fr. Alia, and the Benue people are very happy with him,” stated Onjeh.

“When the righteous rule, the people rejoice. We know that this battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, because right now, Fr. Alia has put Benue on the path of development. Benue has suffered for way too long. From 1999, there has not been any tangible thing to show that the people enjoyed responsive governance in the state. After the glorious era of Chief Aper Aku and Rev. Fr. Moses Adasu, governance took the back seat in Benue State. This is the first time after so long, that the Benue people are basking in the joy of enjoying people-centred governance, and the NASS Caucus wants to foist a false impression of the gentleman governor on the Benue people,” argued Onjeh.

“So we wish to clearly inform the Benue NASS Caucus that we, the Benue people, will defend the Administration of Rev. Fr. Alia to the hilt. Their greatest nightmare is Fr. Alia’s Vision for a Greater Benue, because they know that he is poised to achieve it. They must know that Benue is not business as usual anymore, the era of sharing of monthly allocations by political stakeholders is over. Fr. Alia is not cut out for all that, and will not fall for their cheap blackmails, and that is the crux of the current political crisis in the state. The governor has made his commitment to the Benue people and he is keeping to it, he is putting all those monies hitherto shared into private pockets, into legacy projects for the Benue people. He has just assumed office, and laid the foundation for the prosperity of the state. They should allow him to focus on his work,” stated Onjeh.

“Their deliberate act of misinforming the public is clearly indicative of their ulterior motive, which the Benue people will resist. We have departed from the old order of conducting government business. It is not about looting and sharing anymore. The Administration of Fr. Alia is focused on serving the interests of the people,” stated Onjeh.

“And sadly, his co-travelers, in the National Assembly, who know the implications of their falling out with Fr. Alia, are busy ostensibly drumming support for Sen. Moro, while they are actually fighting to save their own political futures. They all want to control the party ahead of the 2027 General Elections. They have not served the people and justified the mandates reposed in them yet, and they are already scheming ahead of 2027,” alleged Onjeh.