July 23, (THEWILL) – Benue State Governor, Revd Fr Hyacinth Alia’s attendance at the one-year remembrance mass in honour of late Prince Paeke Shepnaan, son of the President of the Court Of Appeal, Justice Monica Bolna’an Dongban-Mensem, in Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State is creating anxiety in the minds of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The PDP in Benue State views this frolicking of Governor Alia around the Court of Appeal President with suspicion given his pending case at the Benue State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, even as Governor Alia has described such suspicion as childish.
In a statement in Makurdi, on Sunday, the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, noted that the PDP is aware that the President of the Court of Appeal appoints the Judges, who sit on the various election petition tribunals, and while the party has no reason to doubt the integrity of the president and those judges, the same cannot be said of the Benue State Governor.
“Governor Alia has shown himself a man willing to bend rules and distort facts to achieve his objectives, and this much was evident in the manner of his emergence as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the last election, through a process fraught with glaring irregularities, but which he hailed as most transparent to the shock of many despite his supposed status as a Catholic priest,” he said.
Iortyom alleged that, during the campaigns, the Governor contrived a series of false narratives as well as empty promises, which he bandied about to bamboozle the unsuspecting electorate, hiding under the cloak of his priesthood.
“Today, the veil is being lifted off the ‘corporation sole’ of his supposed priesthood both at the election petition tribunal where facts and evidence have been successfully entered against his election as Governor, coupled with his fast unravelling incompetence and unpreparedness to discharge the functions of the office of the Governor,” he said.
The PDP, therefore, warned Governor Alia against any act that may seek to tamper with the course of justice at the tribunal and advised him to channel his itinerant energies towards visiting places across the State ravaged by killings and destructions by suspected bandits whom he allegedly admitted having a pact with and refers to as ‘my brothers in the bush’.
The statement points to the fact that a senior official in Alia’s Government, who had died a couple of weeks back, was laid to rest only the other day, and the Governor did not find the event worthy of his attendance, neither could he attend to other matters, yet he had the time to fly to far away Plateau State for a memorial mass.
The PDP reiterates that any attempt by Governor Alia to tamper with justice at the tribunal will be resisted through every means lawful.
However, in a swift reaction, Governor Alia noted that it is quite sad that, at the moment, former Governor Samuel Ortom has taken to a pastime of consistently sponsoring vile attacks on the current administration in the state.
“More saddening, Ortom has now metamorphosed into questioning, suspecting and making innuendoes on anyone, including highly respected Nigerians and revered institutions Alia is seen close to,” he said.
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sir Tersoo Kula, in a statement, said it is shameful that a would-be lawyer has availed himself to be used to denigrate his senior colleagues and the same profession he so cherishes and wishes to practice.
“It is a fact that the law profession is noble and those who wish to practice it must hold it in very high esteem. The insinuation contained in yet another vile attack on the judiciary for allowing Alia to attend a memorial mass for the late son of the President of the Court of Appeal, Hon Justice Monica Bolna’an Dongban-Mensem is unfortunate,” he said.
Kula, who wondered how the President of the Court of Appeal can be easily bought by a mere appearance at her son’s memorial service by Governor Alia, pointed out that since the return of democracy in 1999, the APC-led administration has refused to interfere in the affairs of the judiciary regarding electoral matters.
“The same Ortom sponsoring negative publicity today, won his re-election in 2019, and despite his consistent vile attacks on the person of the then President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, the law was allowed to take its course,” he said.
The statement added that the memorial service in honour of late Prince Paeke Shepnaan, the son of the President Court of Appeal, was attended by prominent Nigerians including four serving Governors, former Governors as well as Senators, pointing out that Alia represented the Progressive Governors’ Forum just like Sayi Makinde represented NGF.
The Chief Press Secretary states that it is laughable how the PDP has now shifted its hopes to the tribunal, even after it was roundly defeated at the polls, wondering what has changed a few months after the PDP was thrown out of government by Benue people for incompetence.
He, therefore, called on unsuspecting members of the public to disregard the antics of the opposition PDP in their quest to attract unnecessary attention and seek relevance.
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