Gov Alia Running Benue Like a Church — Abba Moro

Senate Minority Leader and Senator representing Benue South, Abba Moro, has criticised Governor Hyacinth Alia’s style of governance, alleging that decision-making in Benue State is excessively centralised in the governor’s office.

Moro made the remarks on Tuesday during an appearance on Democracy Today, a programme aired on African Independent Television (AIT), where he assessed the performance of the Benue State administration.

The senator claimed that commissioners and other political appointees have been stripped of meaningful responsibilities because major decisions are taken solely by the governor.

According to him, the situation has created widespread dissatisfaction among political office holders and stakeholders in the state.

“If these people are angry with him, if people are not happy with him, as a leader, it is his duty to call people and say, ‘Look, this is our state. Let’s build it together,’” Moro said.

He added that governance in Benue has become overly personalised.

“People look at Benue State as a church, as a pulpit where instructions come from only one person,” he stated.

Moro further alleged that Governor Alia performs functions that ordinarily belong to other senior government officials.

“Governor Alia is the Accountant General of Benue State. He’s the Finance Commissioner of Benue State. He’s the Commissioner for Works in Benue State,” the lawmaker said.

He challenged residents to independently assess the level of authority exercised by commissioners and other political appointees in the state government.

“Conduct a discreet survey and see whether these appointees have anything to do,” he said.

The former Minister of Interior also cited experiences from his visits to internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, arguing that government officials lacked adequate financial authority to respond to humanitarian emergencies.

He recalled an incident where a commissioner announced a donation of ₦150,000 to be shared among three IDP camps.

According to Moro, he privately provided the money because he considered the situation an emergency.

The senator also claimed that during another visit to an IDP camp, the deputy governor pledged ₦1 million to soldiers engaged in tackling insecurity but lacked the authority to release the funds.

He described the situation as evidence of excessive centralisation of government functions, insisting that commissioners and other officials should be empowered to effectively discharge their responsibilities.