Nigerian Concord Newspaper
The newly-inaugurated Commission of Inquiries by the governor of Benue state, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia to scrutinize the management of assets and income expenditures of the immediate past administration under Chief Samuel Ortom PhD has suffered a set back as members of the Commission have started to pull out.
Recall that Governor Alia had this morning inaugurated two separate Judicial Commissions of Inquiries, with a charge on them to scrutinize the management of the state’s resources and assets under the previous administration.
The two commission of Inquiries inaugurated are the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Income and Expenditure of Benue State Government (from May 29, 2015, to May 28, 2023), and the Judicial Commission of inquiry into the Sale/lease of government assets, Companies and Markets (both State and Local Government owned markets), as well as Moribund Companies (from or before May 28, 2015 to May 28th, 2023).
But few hours after the inauguration, a member of the Commission of Inquiries, Hon. Abraham Atotse resigned, saying that he was not duly consulted by the governor before he was announced in the media.
Although, Atotse said he rejected the appointment because he was not duly consulted, those that are close to him told this newspaper that he rejected the role because the governor is not a well organized person.
“How can you set up this kind of crucial committee and some of the members weren’t consulted and you expect them to take up the role” one of them said.
Rejecting the appointment in a statement he personally signed, Atotse said: “Dear friends, I am inundated with calls and messages of felicitations with me on my membership of a commission of inquiry on companies, assets and markets, details of which I presently do not have.
“Kindly be assured that I remain humbled by your reaching out to me in the way and manner you did on this issue to convey your felicitations.
“Dear friends and compatriots, I was not consulted for my availability for this sensitive and important task. If I were to be contacted before hand, my response would have been: not this, not now, not there and therefore not me. And consequently there wouldn’t have been any reason for this to become public the way it did to elicit the felicitations I am getting.
“You will therefore kindly accept my deepest apologies for not being available to take the role and subsequently and similarly not being available for your kind felicitations on this matter”