By Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi
Without mincing words, the Executive Director Finance and Administration of the Federal Housing Authority, Mr. Mathias Byuan is behind all the media outings of one self-acclaimed social media influencer, Asom Jerry just because he is aspiring to be Governor of Benue State in 2027.
If you want to be governor, must you blackmail the sitting governor and members of his administration? Must you hire blackmailers to be feeding the public with lies about the man whom you aspire to take over from? These are million dollars questions for Mr. Matthias Byuan.
Is this what Byuan planned to use my newspaper, Nigerian Concord Newspaper for when he contacted me and some of its editors in 2024?
Immediately Byuan was appointed in 2004, he invited some social media handlers loyal to SGF George Akume and few online publishers to his private residence in Abuja where he contracted them to descend heavily on Governor Hyacinth Alia and key members of his administration.
According to Byuan, Asom Jerry whom he had relocated to Abuja from Makurdi few days before his appointment was announced by the federal government would head the team of his “Media Bulldogs”
Benue State government agencies that were marked for propaganda and media attacks during the meeting were BSEMA, Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, BIRS, BSUTH, Ministries of Works and Finance.
Byuan also instructed them to paint a picture that there was a bad blood between the governor and his deputy, Barrister Sam Ode so that the people of Zone C would come against him (Alia).
He assured them that he had contacted some senior civil servants as well as some Aides to the governor that are corruptible to be supplying them classified government documents and information that would be used to bring the administration down..
Apart from government agencies, two people who are very close to the governor, Dr. Livinus Tsar and Moses Ternenge were also marked down for media propaganda and cyber attacks.
At the meeting, Byuan who released a sum of N2.5million to Asom Jerry to share among the online publishers and social media influencers loyal to SGF George Akume made it clear that he had to use media propaganda and lies to demarket the administration of Father Hyacinth Alia for him to be able to take over from him in 2027.
Byuan also reportedly told them that the SGF was directly involved in the planned media attacks on Father Alia, his two closest associates and members of his administration. He promised to take them to the SGF a week after the first meeting..
However, the online publishers backed out two weeks after the meeting. They said they needed to meet SGF Akume for them to be sure that he would foot their legal bills in case they were taken to court for libel defamation.
All efforts by Byuan to bring them back proved abortive as they insisted that only a one-on-one meeting with the SGF could make them risk their lives and freedom, fighting a sitting governor with fabricated stories as ordered by him (Byuan)
Asom Jerry chose to remain and continue the hatchet job he was contracted to do by Byuan.
Part of Jerry’s work as dictated by Byuan is to open pseudo Facebook and Instagram accounts and pages to also blackmail other governorship aspirants like Pius Akutah, Terhemba Shija and others.
If truly Byuan loves Benue State, does he need to hire media influencers to be attacking everyone on his way with false information all in the name of “Information nah water”
A critical scrutiny of everything which Asom Jerry has posted on his Verified social media accounts on the order of his paymaster, Byuan indicates that ninety five percent are fake. Just mere media attacks to bring the administration to disrepute.
To be continued