WHY ALIA SETTLED FOR BERGER
By Eric T. Adah
Many people were upset when the speakership position was taken from Jemgbagh, the largest political block and given to Lobi block that wasn’t originally zoned for the position.
They accused Governor Alia of having a penchant for ignoring zoning arrangements, citing the incident in Kwande where the SSG position was taken away and give to the Gwer ruling block.
The Transmitter in a chat with Agber Tingir, gathered that Governor Alia had searched within zone B and found that Alfred Berger was the only assembly member loyal enough to do his bidding.
The Governor considered keeping the speakership position in Jemgbagh but none of the members met the loyalty test.
Hon. Becky Orpin from Gboko East is Sen. Akume’s trusted ally, would betray Alia if the need arises, Hon. Terhemen Jabi, representing Buruku State Constituency, is Sen. Akume’s nephew, got his seat thanks to his uncle, the SGF, while Hon. Manger from Tarka State Constituency is also loyal to Akume, which made him unsuitable for the role.
However, in the Gwer ruling block, Hon. Audu’s connection to Achado made him unsuitable due to the Governor’s rift with the federal lawmaker representing Gwer – East constituency, meanwhile Hon. Gila from Gwer-west and Hon. Ortyom from Agasha Ctate constituency are all law makers from the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), making them impossible to be considered by the Governor because of party difference and their political alliance with the former governor, Samuel Ortom.
On the other hand, Hon. Douglas Akya representing Makurdi South, who just returned from a 3-months’ suspension is a loyal party lawmaker who belongs to the Austin Agada led APC state Exco which was considered dissolved by the Ganduje’s National working committee of the party, during his time as the acting National chairman.
However, with all these political alliance, loyalty and connection with the Secretary of the Federation, Sen. Akume who is seen to be at logger head with Governor Alia, have prevented the state lawmakers from Jemgbagh and by extension Gwer ruling blocks to be chosen as Aondona Dajoh’s replacement as the Benue State House of Assembly speaker.
Recall that immediately the 10th assembly was inaugurated, the lawmakers split over the speakership position, while some members’ choice was Hon. Becky Orpin who was backed by Sen. Akume as the anointed choice, other lawmakers loyal to governor Alia whose candidate was Hon. Aondona Dajoh supported the governor and elected the speaker against the wishes of his political godfather, Senator George Akume.
Hon. Berger Alfred and some members switched their loyalty to the Governor against the party decision of presenting Hon. Becky Orpin for speaker. These lawmakers who supported the governor’s candidate were tagged as betrayals by the SGF camp, which Berger is also among. As the political disagreements between Aondona Dajoh, and governor Alia became tensed with an impeachment attempt which failed, The Transmitter gathered that another well coordinated planned impeachment was been arranged which led to the resignation of Hon. Dajoh.
A political analyst observed that the division in APC in the state and by extension the in the Benue State House of Assembly has caused the Governor and his cohorts sleepless nights, pushing him to take the tough decision in selecting a speaker that will to his bidding. Having studied and weigh all the options, Governor Alia has no choice than to picked Hon. Berger Alfred as Speaker because he has shown his loyalty and commitment over time to the Governor.
As the political events unfold in the coming days, Benue people are watching how the new Speaker will reconcile the lawmakers, and work cordially with the executive arm.
