Benue State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticised Governor Hyacinth Alia over the fiscal management of the resources of the state.

The party has questioned the fiscal discipline of the Governor Alia-led administration, saying that despite reportedly receiving over N1.2 trillion within the last three years, there is no meaningful development in the state.

Reacting swiftly in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary Tersoo Kula, the Governor described the PDP’s outburst as “a recycled political script designed to distract people of the state from the immeasurable progress recorded by his administration in the last three years.

He also advised the party’s leadership to “put its house in order, concentrate more on redeeming its bad image before the Benue people, rather than attempting to undermine his laudable strides in the state”.

Governor Alia said the only intent about the N1.2 trillion claim and financial transparency is to misrepresent facts and figures as according to him, budgets all over are run on cash flows, loans, grants and aid.

He noted that the state’s budget performance over three years reflects 61.6%(2023); 64.8%(2024) and 81%(2025), stressing that taking an average of over three years, his administration recorded a performance of 69.1% from 2023 to 2025.

“And it is important to stress that over the three years of the Alia administration, the Benue State Budget inclusive of FAAC, IGR, grants, Aid and loans, (termed Discretionary and Non-Discretionary funds) were approved at N179.7b(2023), N373.1b(2024) and N550.1b(2025), which aggregated to 1.1trillion.

“‎Non-Discretionary funds are grants and aid, which come in the form of kind or health commodities, interventions by donors,etc that are not really cash-backed or cash-budgeted. Most of the time, the funds come in terms of provision of counterpart funding to enable drawdown of such items or commodities, which the State has no absolute control over.

“‎It is also worthy to note that Approved Budgets do not amount to the actual amount gotten in a year, and the average budget performance is calculated (whether cash flow or non-discretionary).

“‎Therefore, the actual amount realised as State inflows in terms of Discretionary and Non- Discretionary funds that the State is in receipt of is 69.1% of N1.1trillion, which if calculated comes to 762.8b. (Note, this is inclusive of grants, which come in items or commodities) over the three years). This is an indication that the State could not realise 30.9% of its projections.

“Interestingly, the loans left by the same PDP government under Ortom, which amount to N359.6b are still being serviced regularly, with some deductions carried out from the source. (Some in the form of judgment debts or garnishees).

“‎This is why Governor Alia always emphasises that he is pinching the pennies. Because with N762b over three years, if you subtract Non-Discretionary funds of about N280 billion in three years, one is left with about N562b cash-backed or cash budget or Discretionary funds for three years, to offset a loan profile of N359.6billion; pay salaries, run overheads, and fight insecurity (which is really really expensive).

On the issue of security and IDPs in the state, the governor regretted the PDP’s claim that insecurity has worsened alarmingly.

He noted that his administration “inherited a state where 17 local government areas were under consistent attacks by terrorists. But his administration coordinated operations with federal security agencies, reopened key roads, enabled farming activities to resume in multiple LGAs, and facilitated the gradual return of some displaced persons.

“‎Also, the establishment of new IDPs support centres is a humanitarian response to resettle people previously abandoned, not evidence of rising displacement. Unlike in the past, when IDPs were weaponised for politics, this government is investing in security infrastructure, patrol vehicles, and community policing to address the root causes.

‎Alluding to PDP’s allegations that “governance at the grassroots has virtually collapsed, while citizens continue to suffer from poor infrastructure and economic hardship.”

Governor Alia reminded the party that within three years of his reign, he has rehabilitated over 300km of rural roads in addition to over 225km of intra-city roads.

He noted that his administration also rehabilitated and erected new structures at the Fr. Adasu University Teaching Hospital, upgraded over 50 Primary Healthcare Centres across the state, reconstructed and built over 400 structures in primary schools across the state, constructed two interchanges (underpass) in Gboko and Makurdi, restored water works at Otobi amongst other very many.

“All these projects are visible and not fake as was the case when the PDP was in power,” he noted.

‎On Loans and Debts, “we were all here when borrowings were a regular occurrence during the PDP years. The party left Benue with over N187 billion in verified debts (exclusive of contractual liabilities, judgement debts and other questionable liabilities). What were the huge borrowings during that time for?

“‎Again, there is no hidden fact that the state’s monthly allocation like other States has improved under the President Tinubu-led government, from an average of N8 billion monthly in 2023 to an average of N15 billion currently. This information is also available from the FAAC Secretariat and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

“‎Again, there is no hidden fact that the internally generated revenue of the state has steadily improved from about N800m monthly in 2023 to about N3 Billion. These numbers are also available in government-published records, ” Alia explained.