PDP calls for probe into alleged embezzlement of Benue State funds

The Benue State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded an investigation by anti-corruption agencies into the alleged misappropriation of local government funds by government officials.

This call comes in the wake of a report by the Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN) alleging that the state governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, instructed his Special Adviser on the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Dr. Denis Akura, to divert a staggering N20 billion.

In response, Akura has vehemently denied these claims, dismissing them as baseless allegations aimed at diverting attention from the government’s work.

However, the PDP, through a statement signed by its state Publicity Secretary, Chief Bemgba Iortyom, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant anti-graft agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter.

The party asserts that the recent establishment of two panels by Governor Hyacinth Alia to investigate the administration of his predecessor, Samuel Ortom, appears to be a strategy to deflect public attention from the alleged shortcomings of his own administration.

In a section of the statement, the PDP emphasized, “There are allegations of massive corruption occurring at the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, where illicit practices have been revealed in the form of unauthorized deductions and transfers from the accounts of the 23 local government councils into private accounts belonging to certain government officials and suspected associates of the governor.”

The statement further notes the recent media reports highlighting civil society groups’ petitions regarding these allegations of financial malfeasance in the Benue State local government Bureau. The sums under scrutiny reportedly amount to tens of billions of naira within a period of less than a year.

The PDP insists on a thorough investigation to bring transparency and accountability to the management of public funds, underscoring the gravity of the situation and the necessity for swift action by anti-corruption agencies.