Something deeply wrong is happening in Benue State. Under the watch of Governor Hyacinth Alia, the office of the Deputy Governor, a constitutionally elected office of the people, is being systematically humiliated, silenced and stripped of relevance.
The latest disgrace came during the Voter Registration Awareness Campaign organized by Hon. Solomon Semaka, the Principal Special Assistant to the Governor on National Programs, Civil Society, Voter Education and Strategic Interventions. The initiative was designed to encourage civic participation, an apolitical, people-centered effort every responsible government should proudly support.
Hon. Semaka, acting with vision, appointed the Deputy Governor’s wife, Mrs. Christie Ada Sam Ode, as Focal Person for the campaign, and engaged the First Ladies of Local Governments as Local Governments influencers. But instead of celebrating this effort, Governor Hyacinth Alia reportedly blocked it, simply because the Deputy Governor’s wife featured prominently on the program.
The Governor’s reaction was not only disappointing, it was vindictive. He allegedly ordered that no government official should attend the event. By the time this directive spread, the damage was already done: stickers and banners had been printed, food had been cooked, logistics arranged. Hon. Semaka, a loyal aide, was left stranded, humiliated and indebted to the tune of over ₦15 million, forced to look for random people just to share the food meant for guests.
This is not leadership. This is vindictive pettiness dressed in executive power.
This incident is not isolated. It is part of a growing pattern of deliberate sidelining and suppression of the Deputy Governor, Barr. Sam Ode.
A midterm review of the Alia administration reveals a shocking fact: in two years, the Deputy Governor’s office has received only ₦20 million in budgetary allocation.
₦20 million in two years? For an office constitutionally recognized as the second-in-command in the state?
That is not an allocation – it is an insult.
Governor Alia has turned the office of the Deputy Governor into a union post, a powerless seat meant only to complete the constitutional formality of a “joint ticket.” This level of disrespect is unprecedented in Benue’s democratic history.
The questions hanging on the lips of Benue people are: What exactly is Governor Alia afraid of? Why should the Deputy Governor’s wife’s inclusion in a civic program be treated like a political threat?
True leadership thrives on collaboration and respect. Only insecure leaders see their deputies as competition.
Benue people did not elect a king and his subjects. They elected a team, a Governor and a Deputy, to work together in trust and service. When one man begins to hoard visibility, reject teamwork and muzzle his own Deputy, he is no longer serving democracy; he is serving himself.
Governor Alia must be told in clear terms: Benue State belongs to the people, not to one man. The office of the Deputy Governor is not a Favour, it is a constitutional mandate. Reducing it to irrelevance undermines democracy and sets a dangerous precedent for future administrations.
Every democratic institution in Benue, from civil society to the media and the legislature, must rise to defend the sanctity of that office. We cannot normalize arrogance in leadership.
We cannot watch quietly while the Governor tears down the dignity of his own Deputy for political ego.
Governor Alia must remember, power is temporary, but records are permanent.
History will not forget who built bridges and who burned them. Benue deserves leadership, not domination. Respect, not rivalry.
And until Governor Hyacinth Alia restores dignity, respect and fair funding to the office of the Deputy Governor, his administration will continue to stand as an example of how insecurity can cripple even the noblest mandate.
Asom D Jerry is the Spokesperson Enlightened Tiv Youths (E.T.Y.)