29/08/2026
THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK:_WHEN THE PDP SUDDENLY DISCOVERS ACCOUNTABILITY.
→_→Victor Attah Ifere
The PDP’s description of Governor Hyacinth Alia’s thank-you tour as a “celebration of failure” would have been amusing if the subject were not the serious business of governance in Benue. Suddenly, the party that governed the state for years has discovered the vocabulary of accountability, transparency, infrastructure, insecurity and unemployment as though these problems were born with the Alia administration. Political opposition is legitimate, but selective amnesia is not. If the PDP wants to interrogate the performance of the present government, Nigerians are watching; but before preaching accountability to others, perhaps the party should explain why the very problems it is now shouting about survived its own years in government.
And then comes the dramatic ₦1.2 trillion figure. Such a gigantic number has been thrown into the political arena with the confidence of a mathematical revelation, but where are the detailed calculations? How much was statutory allocation? How much was internally generated revenue? How much went to local governments? How much represented loans with repayment obligations? How much was tied to specific grants or projects? How much was actually available as discretionary funds? Government finance is not political mathematics where every inflow is simply added together and presented as money the governor could spend at will. If the PDP possesses evidence of financial impropriety, let it publish the documents and make specific allegations. A trillion-naira headline is not the same thing as a trillion-naira scandal.
But let us also interrogate the PDP’s convenient definition of failure. Was Benue suddenly transformed into a paradise before May 29, 2023? Were our roads perfect? Were farmers completely secure? Were hospitals adequately equipped? Was youth unemployment nonexistent? Were schools overflowing with modern facilities? Had displacement and insecurity been conquered? If the answer is no and history says it is no then the PDP cannot honestly present itself as an innocent bystander who merely arrived yesterday to discover the ruins. The Alia administration inherited a state with enormous structural challenges. That does not give the governor a licence to fail, but neither does it give the opposition the licence to pretend that every defect in Benue was manufactured by the man currently sitting in Government House.
Yet, let nobody misunderstand this rejoinder: Governor Alia should be held accountable. In fact, he should be held to an even higher standard precisely because he asked Benue people for their mandate. A thank-you tour should never become a shield against legitimate questions. If billions have been received, the people deserve to know what has been done with them. If roads have been constructed, let the quality and cost be examined. If healthcare facilities have been renovated, let citizens see the impact. If employment and empowerment programmes exist, let their beneficiaries be identifiable. If security interventions have been made, let communities testify to their effectiveness. The governor does not need propaganda to defend genuine achievements; completed projects, audited accounts and transformed communities can speak louder than a thousand jingles.
But the PDP should also be reminded that opposition politics is not a funeral where everything must be declared dead. A government can make mistakes and still accomplish something. It can inherit a difficult situation and still be expected to improve it. It can complete some projects while failing in other areas. Mature political opposition recognises this complexity. Immature opposition reduces governance to a single sentence: “Everything is a failure.” That is not analysis; that is campaigning. If the PDP has a better roadmap for Benue, let it unveil it. Tell the people exactly how you would secure the farms, rehabilitate the roads, expand healthcare, create jobs, strengthen education and attract investment. Do not merely tell us that Alia is bad, _tell us why you would be better._
And to Governor Alia and his supporters, the opposition’s attack should not be answered with anger alone. It should be answered with evidence. Publish what can legally and responsibly be published. Explain the finances. Defend the projects. Admit the shortcomings. Correct the failures. Let citizens independently compare promises with performance. The most devastating response to an opposition press release is not another press release; it is a government whose books are open, whose projects are visible and whose citizens can point to tangible improvements in their daily lives. If the administration has achievements, put them before the people. If there are failures, confront them honestly rather than burying them beneath political rhetoric.
Ultimately, Benue must graduate from this endless circus where every party becomes an angel in opposition and a saint in government. The PDP should not weaponise accountability selectively, and the APC should not treat criticism as treason. Governor Alia is not above scrutiny, and the PDP is not above historical scrutiny. The people are the ultimate auditors. Let every naira be accounted for, every project be measured, every promise be tested and every politician be judged by the same standard. If the PDP wants to call Alia’s tour a “celebration of failure,” then let the evidence speak. But once the political drums stop, the real question remains: who can actually show Benue the road from rhetoric to results?
APC BENUE SOUTH MEDIA
(Ado Rep.)
