George Okoh in Makurdi
The Benue Rebirth Movement (BRM) has requested the incoming administration of Rev. Father Hyacinth Alia, to restore the position of Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and cede that of the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly to Benue South Senatorial District, popularly known as Zone C.
The request was contained in BRM’s congratulatory message to Rev. Father Alia, the Benue State’s governor-elect and the Deputy Governor-elect, Dr. Sam Ode, on their victory at the just concluded governorship election in the state.
In the message signed yesterday by the National Coordinator of BRM, Air Vice Marshal Monday Riku Morgan (rtd), the movement said that from the mood of Benue people immediately, before and since the election day, it was clear that Alia was the popular choice of the people of Benue state.
Morgan restated the main objective of BRM, which is the pursuit of the emergence of the 2023 governor of the state from Benue South Senatorial District (Zone C) after over 47 years of the creation of Benue state, to achieve inclusiveness in governance.
“However, that ambition could not be realised in the just-concluded election because of the peculiar ethnic suspicion and the uncooperative posture of the major political players in Benue State.”
He, nevertheless, said that as bona fide citizens of the state and believers in democracy, “we in BRM identify with and pledge our full support and cooperation with your in-coming administration. We believe that your coming at this time will resolve the knotty issue of ethnic rivalry that has beclouded major decision process in the state.
“In line with our goal of achieving inclusiveness in the governance of the state, we wish to request for the following: one, the restoration of the position of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) which had been zoned to Benue South Senatorial District until it was unfortunately taken away by the Ortom administration.
“Two, ceding of the position of the speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly to Zone C; three, correcting the current imbalance in the staffing of the state civil service to the disadvantage of Zone C, and four, fair distribution of political appointments and other dividends of democracy among the three senatorial zones of the state.”
The BRM expressed the hope that the incoming governor would use his vantage position as a Man of God to make his tenure the launching pad for his successor to emerge from Zone C.
It said: “This critical demand needs careful planning with total commitment for an eventual transfer of political baton to Zone C. This will ultimately bring a sigh of relief and also an end to an era of political exclusion in Benue politics.”
The BRM reiterated its unflinching and unalloyed support to the prospective administration, assuring that it was willing and able to support all positive pursuits of the Rev. Father Alia’s administration.
