Tag: Hyacinth Alia

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Benue Assembly Speaker resigns, lawmakers pick Berger as replacement

The Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Aondona Dajoh, has resigned.

Dajoh’s resignation was contained in a letter he personally signed, dated August 24, 2025, and made available to Channels Television.

The letter titled ‘Resignation As The Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, read in part, “I write to resign my position as the Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, effective today, August 24, 2025.

“This is done in good faith and in the best interest of the state. I want to appreciate my dear colleagues for the opportunity they gave me to be the first among equals.

“I pledge to remain committed to my duties as a legislator and representative of Gboko West State Constituency.”

Following his resignation, the Benue State assembly, in an emergency plenary session, elected Alfred Berger, representing Makurdi North, setting aside his suspension along with three other lawmakers on Friday.

The session, which was presided over by the deputy speaker,  Lami Ogenyi, first set aside its operating rules to allow them to carry on with the business of replacing the speaker.

Berger, who is just returning from suspension and backed by Governor Hyacinth Alia, pledged to work with Dajoh and the lawmakers to pursue the development agenda of the state.

The Benue State House of Assembly had last Friday suspended the lawmaker representing Makurdi North, Alfred Berger; his Kian state constituency counterpart, Terna Shimawua; Cyril Ekong of Obi state constituency, and James Umoru, representing Apa state constituency, for six months.

This, according to the House, followed an attempt to impeach the Speaker, Aondona Dajoh, the previous night.

The Majority Leader, Saater Tiseer, in a motion of urgent importance, moved for the suspension of the four lawmakers for attempting to unsettle the state assembly with what he said was a needless crisis.


Following the motion, the Speaker directed the Sergeant at Arms to lead the suspended lawmakers out of the chambers.

Dajoh also appointed Audu Elias as the new spokesperson of the House, following the suspension of Berger, who had held the position.

However, the Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, said he had no hand in any alleged move to impeach Dajoh.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Tersoo Kula, partly read, “The governor, Hyacinth Alia, is not aware of and has no involvement whatsoever in any purported attempt to remove the speaker or in any activities currently taking place in the Benue state house of assembly.

“The governor continues to enjoy a cordial and productive working relationship with the Dajoh-led assembly and remains committed to supporting it in the discharge of its legislative duties for the overall development of Benue state.”

Twenty-four hours earlier, the House of Assembly screened and confirmed six nominees as commissioners, but rejected the nomination of Timothy Ornguga over allegations contained in four petitions against him from his former students and for lacking a primary school certificate.

The lawmakers at plenary presided over by Dajoh, asked Governor Alia to send replacements for Ornguga and James Dwen as both men failed to discharge the burden contained in the petition submitted against their nominations.

After Ornguga, a law professor, introduced himself, the Majority Leader, Saater Tiseer, presented four petitions written against him, while the lawmaker representing Tarka Constituency, Manger Manger, queried his academic credentials. (Channels)

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Alia dissolves cabinet, sacks commissioners, others

The Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia on Wednesday dissolved the State Executive Council.

Alia announced the dissolution in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Tersoo Kula, and made available to newsmen in Makurdi.

Kula said that the governor informed the council members of the dissolution at the end of the 12th (2025) SEC meeting.

The chief press secretary said that the governor directed the commissioners to hand over to the permanent secretaries of their ministries as soon as possible.

He appreciated all the former commissioners who worked with him for two years and urged those who might not be reappointed, to remain in the party.

He said those who would not be reappointed are only paving the way for other citizens to also contribute their quota to the development of the state.

Meanwhile, the governor has approved the immediate appointment of Mr Moses Atagher, a legal practitioner, as the new Chief of Staff to replace Mr Paul Biam.

Kula said that Atagher is a former two-term attorney general and commissioner for justice in the state.

Atagher, who is a seasoned administrator, is also the former acting managing director of the Federal Mortgage Bank.

Speaking for the dissolved commissioners, immediate past Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Mr Bemsen Mnyim, appreciated the governor for giving them the opportunity to serve the state.

“At every stage in life, everywhere you are called to serve is a school. We have learnt a lot while working with you,” Mnyim said. (Punch)

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Benue uncovers 4,000 substandard schools

Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has said that about 4,000 mushroom schools have been discovered in the state.

Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Kula Tersoo, while briefing journalists about his achievements in the educational sector in the past two years on Thursday, the governor said that the mushroom schools were not conducive for learning and they do not have qualified teachers.

While he declined to comment on the next step the government would take, Tersoo stated that 9,700 qualified teachers have been recruited into primary schools across the state.

The governor further said that in 2023/2024, the government paid the external examination fees for about 19,000 students who sat for the West Africa Examination Council, the National Examination Council, and the National Business and Technical Examinations Board.

He further stated that the present administration had cleared the backlog of 38 months of earned allowance for staff of the Moses Adasu University, formerly Benue State University.

He said, “The present administration has stabilised the educational sector in the state with its various interventions, which is the reason our tertiary institutions have been having uninterrupted sessions since this administration came into office.

“For instance, the backlog of 38 months of earned allowance owed to staff of the State University has been cleared.

“It will also interest you to know that the present administration has recruited 9700 qualified primary school teachers to reposition our schools.

“Also, the government has identified 4,000 schools that are substandard and not good for learning and do not have qualified teaching personnel.

“In the 2023/2024 academic session, this administration paid the WAEC fees for 8,119 students, NECO fees for 8,979 students, and also NABTEB fees for 1,547 students.

The governor said that his administration had successfully secured a license to establish a State University of Technology at Ihugh in the Vandeikiya local government area of the state. (Punch)