All council chairmen of the 23 local government areas of Benue State have vowed not to comply with Governor Hyacinth Alia’s directive of suspension, ousting them from office.
Sequel to recommendation by the state’s House of Assembly to Governor Alia to suspend the 23 LGAs chairmen in order to pave way for investigation into their financial activities, the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affair (BLGCA) on Friday ordered the council chairmen to hand over to the most senior staff in their various councils.
But, in a swift reaction on Saturday in Makurdi, the chairmen said that they will neither comply with the instruction from the state lawmakers nor the BLGCA.
The Chairman of Guma LG and Chairman of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) Benue State chapter, Mike Uba, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said they would not surrender to illegality as doing so will mean a disservice to the state.
He said that they were duly elected into office alongside their councillors on April 30, 2022 for two years tenure, which will constitutionally come to an end by April 30, 2024, wondering why the state government wants their tenure short-lived without cogent reason.
“We state without the slightest modicum of ambiguity or prevarication that we do not recognise such purporting of our suspension from office from such quarters as are purporting it, neither do we consider ourselves under any obligation to give heed to same or comply with any directive as emanates from it,” they said.
The chairman added that as Chief Security Officers of the 23 local government areas of Benue State and leaders in the state, they will at all times be willing to toe the path of peace, law and order, saying, “We are chairmen and will remain chairmen. We will resume duty at our offices as usual and protect our mandate.”
