Chairmen of the 23 Local Government Councils in Benue State have publicly challenged the administration of Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia over the decision suspending them from office.
The council Chairmen elected into office in March 2022 are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP while the governor is of the All Progressives Congress APC.
Current matters reports that the local government chairmen are battle ready to force the governor to withdraw his directive that they hand over the reins of power and proceed on suspension as recommended by the state House of Assembly.
Addressing journalists on Saturday on the Assembly’s resolution and the directive by the Permanent Secretary, Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to suspend them on the orders of the governor, thechairmen said they planned to stop the governor through legal action.
They said they had briefed their lawyers to file a contempt suit against the state government for failing to respect an earlier injunction restraining it from sacking them from office.
However, Alia, through his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, said it was not a sack order but a suspension for purpose of allowing thorough investigations into the income and expenditure of the councils which allegedly showed traces of misappropriation based on audit reports received so far.
On June 20, the 23 local government chairmen met with the governor to turn in their reports of income and expenditure.
Many of them were afraid that it would be their last, but Alia surprisingly said dissolving them was not on his mind.
Days later, when he received the audit reports from the local councils, the governor forwarded it to the state assembly for investigation, leading to the resolution of the house to suspend them from office.
The Assembly resolution notwithstanding,the chairmen at a press conference, said they would not obey the directive to hand over before their tenure elapsed in 2024, adding that they had prepared a suit against the state government for contempt of court.
