An advocacy group, Benue for Good Governance, has accused the Governor of Benue State, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, of allegedly expending N4 billion on what it described as a “media charade” involving the invitation of journalists from Abuja to inspect government projects.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its Director of Press, Anthony Oche, the group claimed that about 80 journalists were brought into the state last week for a one-day project tour at a cost it considered excessive and unjustifiable.
According to the group, the media delegation was led by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, who had earlier submitted a proposal of N6 billion to the Benue State Government to cover logistics, including transportation, accommodation and feeding.
The statement alleged that the initial proposal was later reduced to N4 billion, which was subsequently approved and released for the exercise.
The advocacy group further claimed that the development has sparked discontent among members of the local media in Benue State, some of whom reportedly criticised the decision on social media, questioning the rationale behind engaging external journalists at significant cost for duties they said could be handled locally.
It also recalled that a similar media tour, led by the same presidential aide, was conducted in the state about three months ago, during which the journalists were allegedly paid N3.5 billion as professional fees.
Describing the repeated engagements as wasteful, the group criticised the Alia administration for what it termed a pattern of prioritising media optics over tangible development outcomes.
“Rather than deploying the vast resources available to the state towards impactful projects, the government appears to be channelling funds into activities that offer little value to the people,” the statement read.
The group further alleged that despite receiving substantial allocations from multiple revenue sources, the administration had yet to deliver commensurate development across key sectors.
It therefore called on the governor to publicly present a detailed scorecard of his administration and provide explanations for the reported N7.5 billion expenditure on media-related engagements within a three-month period.
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