The Benue State Government has hit back at the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, accusing the party of craving for relevance at a time Nigerians and indeed the world is groaning under the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The government accused the APC in the state of plotting to gain undue access into the administration having lost woefully at the 2019 general election.
The Acting Publicity Secretary of the party, James Ornguga had in a statement in Makurdi, alleged that the Benue state government was politicising coronavirus palliative efforts and also limited the membership of the State Action Committee COVID-19 to only PDP members or loyalists of the governor.
But the state government has denied, insisting that these allegations were false and unsubstantiated.
In a statement issued at weekend by the Principal Special Assistant to the Benue state governor on Media, Nathaniel Ikyur said the APC was suffering from the “deep pains of their defeat at the 2019 general elections” and have “resorted to their pastime of blame game, raising false allegations and outright lies against the administration of Governor Samuel Ortom.”
According to the governor’s media aide, “it’s also false for the APC to allege that the PDP government in the state is dancing off the rythm of nationally acceptable standards in the fight against Covid-19 and or that the apointment of members of the State Action Committee on COVID-19 were only PDP members or loyalists of the governor.”
The state government said this is blatant falsehood.
“With all these unsubstantiated allegations against the front row efforts the administration of Governor Ortom, it’s clear the APC thrives more in propaganda and twisting facts on its head,” the statement added.
It said Benue state was the first to take proactive steps among the 36 states of the Federation when it set up the State Action Committee on Coronavirus (COVID -19 ) on February 27, 2020 when it became obvious that the pandemic was ravaging the entire world.
The statement reads in part: “this committee was later upscaled with the appointment of the Deputy Governor, Engr Benson Abounu as chairman to prioritise the commitment of government. The committee has eminent medical professionals and other skilled medical personnels brought in from the civil society. These are not members of the Ortom led administration nor are they loyalists of Governor Ortom.
“So, it should be clear to all discerning minds that what the APC in Benue state is seeking for is purely political relevance. They want to subtly, inch their way into the PDP administration through the backdoor after they were humiliated at the 2019 elections using the global pandemic. Let it be known to the APC that this is not a coalition government to begin to appoint members of opposition political parties into committees.
“To put it frankly, these allegations are ill advised and poorly crafted given the magnitude of the crises. The allegations are infact stained with malice and are without any convincing evidence. These are beer parlour allegations and will definitely not assist the state government to fight and overcome this global pandemic threatening our nation and dear state.”
The governor’s spokeman wondered where the state publicity secretary of the party got his briefings from after the APC leader in the state and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Sen George Akume had personally called the governor and commended him and the government for doing well in handling COVID-19 in the state.
Ikyur admonished the APC in the state to be patriotic like every other individuals, groups or corporate bodies and lend their hand by joining the campaign against COVID-19 and stop creating unnecessary friction, raising frivolous allegations just to be seen to be active.
