Leadership (Abuja)
Simon Imobo-Tswam
4 October 2008
The immediate past governor of Benue State, Dr. George Akume, yesterday distanced himself from an alleged plot to destabilise the Benue State government. Akume, who handed over to the incumbent governor of the state, Hon. Gabriel Suswam, after ruling for eight years, has been fingered by the state government, in veiled references, as the brains behind the spate of petitions against the Suswam government.
A former member of the state House of Assembly and now chieftain of the Action Alliance (AA), Hon. Clement Uhondo, had charged the Suswam government with financial improprieties, including the inflation of contracts running into billions of naira.
On Tuesday, Governor Suswam convened a meeting of traditional rulers from the Minda intermediate family, which comprises Makurdi, Gwer-West, Gwer-East and Guma local government areas, to plead with them to pressure Uhondo into soft-pedalling in his fight against his government.
Uhondo, who has sworn an affidavit at the Federal High Court, Makurdi, cataloguing the corrupt activities of Suswam since coming into office and is currently circulating "An Open Letter to The governor, Truth versus Propaganda serial 1", hails from Guma local government area.
Details of the meeting are still sketchy, but leadership Weekend gathered that traditional rulers expressed helplessness over what they termed "Uhondo's belligerence".
On Thursday, Suswam, through his special adviser on media and public affairs, Cletus Akway, made a veiled accusation against Akume by threatening to probe his administration.
While pointing accusing fingers at "Abuja-based politicians" as the masterminds behind Uhondo, the state government said the imminent probe would expose the monumental corruption in the last government.
The two-page statement challenged the Abuja politicians to come out and face Suswam rather than hide behind Uhondo.
In response to the veiled threat, Akume, now a senator, hosted newsmen in his Makurdi residence during which he not only exonerated himself from the anti-graft war against his successor but also condemned petition-writing in the state.
He called for support for the Suswam administration, noting that petitions rather than solve social problems only compound them.
He further recalled with regret what transpired between the late Senator J.S. Tarka and fellow kinsman Chief Godwin Daboh, as well as the late second civilian governor of the state, Moses Adasu, and his kinsman, S.J.I Akure, saying these actions caused serious distractions and needlessly heated up the polity.
He lamented that the same fate befell him when he became the governor of the state. "I was the most petitioned person during my stewardship as governor, but incidentally most of the petitions written against me were un- founded, as all were investigated were found to be baseless. In the light of this, why must we choose to destroy our selves?" he queried.
Sources in Government House, Makurdi who spoke to our correspondent absolved Akume of blame but rather accused "overzealous sycophants" of trying to put a wedge between the two eminent Tiv sons.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Leadership. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
