The Benue State House of Assembly has suspended the screening of commissioner-nominees forwarded by Governor Hyacinth Alia, accusing him of persistently disregarding its resolutions.
The decision was reached during Friday’s plenary session presided over by Speaker Hyacinth Dajoh, where lawmakers unanimously agreed to halt further correspondence with the governor until their conditions were met.
Raising a motion of urgent public importance, the member representing Gwer West State Constituency, Shimavever Jiji, accused the governor of treating the Assembly with contempt.
Jiji said, “The governor has consistently treated the House with total disregard and ignored all resolutions we passed.”
The motion was seconded by Thomas Dugeri, who expressed concern over what he described as the governor’s continued neglect of legislative contributions.
Dugeri said, “The governor has shown no respect for the hallowed chamber. Issues of public interest raised here are ignored, and this is unacceptable.”
Contributors to the debate stressed that the action was not aimed at obstructing governance but to compel the executive to respect the legislature and uphold the rule of law.
One of the first decisions taken was the suspension of the commissioner-nominee screening process. While lawmakers maintained they were not against confirming commissioners, they insisted that Governor Alia must first show commitment to honouring legislative resolutions and earlier agreements.
Among their demands is the immediate release of official vehicles to seven members who have yet to receive theirs. They also want the governor to implement resolutions ordering the suspension of the Chairman of the Benue State Universal Basic Education Board, the Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Council, and the Executive Secretary of the Benue State Sports Lottery and Marketing Board.
Reading out the resolutions, Speaker Dajoh said, “The House resolves that any letter or correspondence from the governor will no longer be honoured until the mentioned persons are suspended.
“The House also resolves that the seven vehicles must be released to members before any further requests from the executive are considered.”
Each time a resolution was read, the Speaker asked, “Is that taken?” and members chorused, “Yeah,” in unison.