Benue tribal groups condemn call for SGF’s suspension

Leader of the three socio-cultural groups in Benue State, the Mdzough U Tiv, Ochetoha K’Idoma and Ominy’Igede, Iorbee Ihagh, on Tuesday, condemned the call by other ethnic nationalities, like Afenifere and Arewa Patriots for the suspension of the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume.

A statement issued by Ihagh, a retired Comptroller of Prisons and made available to newsmen in Makurdi, said as a seasoned administrator who had served in the state civil service knows the pros and cons of such situations and would not intentionally block the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from doing its job.

The group recalled that at the onset, the SGF had given his nod to all the security agencies to investigate the aide and described the call for Akume’s suspension as politically motivated and not on accountability and transparency.

“What we thought as a group is that all interested parties will wait to hear the outcome of the investigation and thereafter draw conclusions on the matter.

“Unfortunately, the factional Afenifere group and the Arewa Patriots have drawn a conclusion on the matter.

“As a member of the ethnic nationalities of Nigeria, I know that there is no factional Afenifere, therefore, we believe that this group has been sponsored to do what they are doing and also acting out a script handed to them.

“We have also noticed that some Arewa groups have been throwing spanners in the works of President Bola Tinubu, as well as his appointees and the Arewa Patriots have toed this line of action.

“Before now, we had thought that we are part of Arewa and the people of Arewa are with us, but with this development, they have clearly drawn a demarcation that they are the Northerners and we are from Middle Belt.

“The statement by the Arewa Patriots is so pathetic because we have seen instances where allegations of misappropriation had been levelled against Northerners and Afenifere and nobody called for their resignation, suspension or outright removal, whereas in this case, Senator Akume has not been accused of embezzling government’s funds, despite that they are asking for his head,” the statement read in parts.

The Benue socio-cultural groups argued that comparing the issue with the sack of the former minister, Beta Edu, does not hold water because in her case the allegations were directly levelled against her.

They noted that the EFCC and other security agencies were already investigating the issue, saying that what the two ethnic groups were doing was tantamount to stampeding the investigation of the anti-graft agency.

While stating that the Arewa patriots group and other groups wanted to use Akume’s aide case to make sure that the president and his appointees fail, the Benue group reiterated the Middle Belt’s full support to President Tinubu and vowed to continue to stand by him despite opposition against the president’s second term bid.

READ ALSO: SGF’s suspension and matters arising