1 week ago
24
MAKURDI – The Benue State chapter of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), has told the State Government to have the understanding that other political parties are also critical citizens to the development of the state, and as such it should extend to them whatever is due them as citizens.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Benue State Council, Comrade Bemdoo Ugber, has made a passionate appeal to the leadership of IPAC to prevail on its membership to withdraw court cases it has instituted against the Benue State Government.
The NUJ chairman who disclosed this while playing host to the the IPAC team, led by its state chairman, Ibrahim Idoko, to his office on Monday, also appealed to the state government to extend a hand of fellowship to other political parties for the sake of moving Benue forward.
Ugber said, “You are the people that nurse leadership at the state level and the nation at large; you provide the platform for them to showcase their capabilities, in terms of leadership, so we want to appreciate you for your efforts.
“We want to also acknowledge the peace you have so far maintained in the political sphere in Benue. The last local government election we witnessed in October, 2024, there were not much crisis and acrimony from other political parties like we have experienced before. So we want to acknowledge the role you are playing in ensuring peace in Benue state.
“We in NUJ will partner with you because our responsibility is to ensure that the government is accountable to the people and we also set the agenda for the people; this is what the people want. This is the yearnings and aspiration of the people. It invariably means IPAC and journalists are playing the same role.
“We will collaborate with you, we will work in synergy because this is the only state we have, therefore we will not allow anyone to bring this state down. So we will ensure that all stakeholders are carried along. The interest of the state should be paramount, against individual or party interest.
“We as journalists want to seize this opportunity to appeal to the government in power to carry the IPAC along in decision making. We therefore call on the government in power to be transparent, accountable to the people. We are the people that voted this government into power.
“I want to also make this passionate appeal; other political parties should join forces with the ruling party to move the state forward, instead of pulling it down with litigations. Even now there are cases in court, so we appeal that IPAC should work towards appealing to their members to withdraw those cases against the governments that are in power.
“Therefore we want to appeal to IPAC, to work with your members that whenever there is election and a winner emerges all other parties should join forces with the winner and move forward.
However, the IPAC chairman noted that other political parties in the state were not enemies of the development of the state, adding that as collaborators in the development of Benue, it was the desire of members of the body that the Alia administration consider members of IPAC and give them room to express themselves.
While congratulating Ugber on “a well deserved victory” at the election, he added that IPAC has seen that there is no better time for it to collaborate with the NUJ for the overall good of Benue state and Nigeria as a whole, than now.
Idoko said “We believe that any Government in power should be working closely with IPAC because their is no body that could be unbiased in her statements and criticisms in pointing to the government in power what should be done; not to be done or how it should be done. That’s why IPAC is very important.
“We are not enemies of the development of Benue state; we are collaborators in the development of Benue state. Therefore, we desire the government to take note of that, so that in whatever he (Alia) is doing he captures other political parties in mind and give them room to express themselves and make contact with him.
“IPAC being an independent observer will be able to observe and point out at what is right and what is wrong, without bias. This is all we are asking for. Once election is done opposition is over. We are all working for the overall benefit of Benue state”, he stated.
Speaking further, Idoko noted that “On the 3rd of February, Benue became 49 years old; you and we are witnesses to the development in Benue state so far. We started very slow, but we want to thank God that we are catching up. So far we have had about four or five democratic experiences, with Governor Hyacinth Alia, as our elected democratic governor now.
“I have seen governors come and go and I must acknowledge where they got it right or wrong. We may not be able to itemize them one by one but I want to use this opportunity to commend Rev Fr Dr Hyacinth Alia, for his giant strides. We must say this, that despite the challenges and the political games that are being played within the political sphere, we have seen how he has successfully manoeuvred his way through and has been able to deliver the dividends of democracy to the good people of Benue.
“Our governor (Alia) has been able to achieve landmark projects that before now we thought were impossible. But at the same time there are areas the governor seem to be ignoring and which is important is the understanding that IPAC and the political parties are also critical citizens of Benue state and whatever is due to Benue state citizens should also be reflected in the life and the people of every political party represented.”
On the other hand, he said “We wish to ask you (Ugber) to continue to create the atmosphere for us, and other political bodies to continue to have this kind of interface with you so that our activities and other political parties could be showcased by the media, which is the fourth estate of the realm and give us the voice to speak.
“Our voices might not be heard if the press does not give us that platform to express them and that is why IPAC Benue state deems it necessary to pay you this visit and besides congratulating you for your victory, we wish to point out these issues as we partner together.
“And we want to inform the house that IPAC just launched a book, titled ‘One hundred years of party politics in Nigeria’; a very articulate and well researched book and we suggest that everyone should have a copy.
“That has become very necessary because IPAC as a political body has come to the realization that a lot of people seem to underestimate the role of political parties in shaping governance and in shaping government because the political parties are our leadership recruitment platforms and if a political party does not get it right in our leadership recruitment process we will continue to have what we are having today and Nigeria can never be good,” the IPAC chairman said.
English (US) ·