Benue: PDP, APC bicker over commissioner-nominees

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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue, on Wednesday, accused the state governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia of breaching the constitutional provision of submitting list of commissioners to the state house of assembly within 60 days of office.

The state publicity secretary of the party, Bemgba Iortyom stated this in a statement issued and made available to newsmen in Makurdi.

The party regretted that the governor had breached the provision of the constitution stating that the letter the speaker of the state assembly read on the floor of the house last Thursday was without names of Commissioner nominees.

According to Iortyom, “The Peoples Democratic Party observed with grave concern serial breaches of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Governor Hyacinth Alia, since his assumption of office on May 29, 2023.

“Fundamental to those breaches observed by PDP so far is the failure by the governor to submit a list of Commissioners to the Benue State House of Assembly for screening and possible confirmation to be appointed into his cabinet, as required by law.

“By the provisions of Section 147 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended by the Fifth Alteration No. 23 of 2023) the Governor of Benue State is under mandatory obligation of law to submit names of nominees for screening and confirmation as commissioners to be appointed into his cabinet within 60 days of his taking oath of office.

“However, the Benue State Governor failed to adhere to this requirement of law and, rather on deadline day, July 27, 2023, the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Hyacinth Dajoh, had read to members of the House at plenary a letter and purported same to have come from the governor in respect of a list of nominees for appointment as Commissioners into his cabinet, but the Speaker had declined making known those nominees.

Meanwhile, the ruling All Progressive Congress in the state has debunked the claim of the opposition party saying that names of the commissioner nominees were attached to the letter sent to the assembly.

According to the state publicity secretary of APC in the State, Daniel Ihomun, “The list of the commissioner nominees was submitted to the state assembly, I don’t know where the PDP got its information.

“The speaker of the house read out the letter from the governor and he is in the custody of the list of commissioner nominees, so there is no breach of the constitution.

Ihomun said that the opposition PDP was still nursing the pain of March 18 governorship election defeat and advised the party to look for ways to appease the people of the state for its eight years maladministration.

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