Nigerian Concord Newspaper
Governor of Benue State, Father Hyacinth Alia has been accused of manipulating the Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi In the ongoing case between him and the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Rt. Hon Titus Uba.
Saying this in a press release signed by
Amos Uchiv, President, Defenders of Democracy, the leaked Audio traced to one of the closest ally of Alia is a proof that the governor is truly manipulating the Tribunal.
Recall that Alia’s attendance at a function organised by the President of the Court of Appeal recently was questioned by the Benue’s major opposition party.
According to DoD, the ‘weak’ response by the CPS to the governor, Kula Tersoo to the leaked Audio which has been traced to Moses Ternenge is an acceptance by Alia that he has been manipulating the Tribunal.
The statement reads:
After more than 24 hours that two audio clips in which one Moses Ternenge who is believed to be a confidant of the Benue State Governor, Fr Hyacinth Alia went viral and trended above any other topic, the governor through his chief press secretary Tersoo Kula came up with a very weak and porous response.
The reaction by governor Alia has thrown up more questions than before. The Governor could not distance himself from any of the allegations that Ternenge made.
This is a man who has been seen with Alia in almost all his public and private engagements and he has boldly stated that he was responsible for Alia’s election victory. That he did “something” which led to the victory of the governor. Moses also boasted that no one can defeat Alia in any court because of some scheming and connections that they are involved in. Hear him:
“Do you know what we did to make Alia win the governorship election? Go all the way to the Supreme Court, no one can defeat Governor Alia in court. Do you know the caliber of people I sit and drink with in Abuja? I sit with the Chief Judge (sic) (Justice) of Nigeria, we drink tea and play together. So is it an ordinary local court case here in Benue that we will lose? This is a court case in my state where I am in charge. The Chief Judge of the state is under me.”
The above allegations are too weighty to just wish them away with a watery press release. What does Alia know with Ternenge? He should speak specifically to the issues that the man raised. He implicated the governor by saying that there is a connection between him and the judiciary. Alia’s silence on those issues means consent.
In one of the two audio clips, Ternenge stated clearly “the very day I came back, the governor asked me about the court case (at the tribunal). Why did he not ask those who have been on ground before my return?”
This also is an indictment on governor Alia. His silence on that aspect of Ternenge’s claim is suspect and implies consent.
It can be observed that Alia’s response dwelt more on the soft aspect of the young man not being his aide. That is not the substance of the matter. Whether he is an aide or not, the fact remains that the man is always around him and has boasted of being the one who brought Alia to power. We expected governor Alia to rebuke Moses in strong terms and counter his statements pointing out that which is the truth of the matter.
The governor’s reaction was also silent on the statement of Ternenge concerning the judgment of the National Industrial Court in Makurdi on the case filed by local government chairmen in the state.
His Excellency Governor Hyacinth Iornem Alia is yet to come clean on his relationship with Ternenge. He is yet to clear doubts about what the young man said. Who is Moses Ternenge to Alia? What does he know about the allegations the young man raised? Is he not bothered that those allegations are weighty and capable of tarnishing his image? Will he not ask security operatives to invite Ternenge for questioning? Will he be sending Ternenge away from him or will he keep him as a confidant?