, has petitioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and three key federal){kind=link}
A civil society organisation, the Network for Transparent Governance (NTG), has petitioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and three key federal agencies over what it describes as entrenched corruption, fiscal misconduct, and worsening human rights violations allegedly linked to Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia.
The group said the move became necessary to prevent what it called an accelerating collapse of governance in the state.
In the petition dated December 10, 2025, and signed by its President, Dennis Agema, and Secretary-General, Oliver Omenka, NTG claimed that the administration had continued to mismanage public resources on a scale that threatened the state’s stability.
The organisation said it acted “as patriotic sons of the state before it crumbles,” insisting that citizens had consistently raised concerns about the governor’s handling of funds “while the plundering of Benue’s resources was ongoing.”
NTG accused the governor of drawing a monthly security vote of ₦3.5 billion, an amount it described as unprecedented in the North-Central region, and argued that between May 2023 and November 2025, the allocation amounted to roughly ₦105 billion.
Despite this, the group alleged there were no visible investments in operational vehicles for security agencies, no clear logistics support, and no published expenditure records.
The organisation further claimed that more than ₦700 billion in federal allocations, ₦85 billion in international donor funds, and an estimated ₦2 billion monthly in internally generated revenue had accrued to the state since 2023.
Yet, according to the petitioners, more than ₦300 billion was allegedly diverted “with fears that more may be mismanaged in the months ahead.” NTG also alleged that state accounts had remained frozen since the governor assumed office, with only the governor authorised to operate them.
The petition highlighted a series of procurement controversies, including the rehabilitation of the 13-kilometre Wurukum–Air Force Base road.
NTG noted that while the governor reportedly approved ₦68.3 billion for the project, the State Public Procurement Commission informed lawmakers that it only cleared ₦28 billion after due process.
The organisation argued that this difference “unmasked deeper problems in the administration’s procurement practices.”
It also pointed to the construction of a 14-kilometre road to the governor’s hometown at an alleged cost of ₦73 billion, describing the figure as suspicious and wasteful.
NTG alleged further that Governor Alia acquired a Bombardier Challenger 850 jet for ₦11 billion, asserting that the funds ought to have been used for public priorities.
The petition also accused him of channelling part of a ₦100 billion loan obtained in 2025 into the construction of a private university said to be linked to him in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with additional investments claimed to have been made in Rwanda.
The group demanded explanations for what it called “diversion of public funds into private ventures abroad.”
Concerns were also raised about the state’s local government system, with the petition alleging that council allocations had been withheld for more than two years.
NTG argued that no local government had executed even a small infrastructure project because the funds had been “hijacked,” alleging that ₦80 billion was diverted from council finances in 2025 alone.
The group also questioned the activities at the Benue Investment and Property Company (BIPC), accusing its managing director, Raymond Asemakaha, of incorporating companies privately while publicly presenting them as state-owned.
NTG’s petition extended beyond financial matters, accusing the governor of failing to address persistent violence in rural communities.
The group claimed that coordinated attacks had continued across villages, resulting in killings, destruction of farmlands, and the displacement of women and children.
NTG criticised the governor’s previous remarks downplaying the crisis, arguing that describing the attacks as “skirmishes” amounted to dismissing the lived reality of affected communities.
The group said such statements caused “psychological harm” to victims and contributed to the normalisation of the violence.
The organisation asked the EFCC to launch a forensic inquiry into the handling of security votes and to audit all state accounts since May 2023.
It urged the ICPC to investigate procurement irregularities and alleged violations of fiscal responsibility laws, while calling on the NHRC to examine the reported human rights abuses and hold hearings in affected areas.
NTG said it was prepared to support any official probe and expressed willingness to submit records, appear before panels, and mobilise residents who had evidence to share.
Governor Hyacinth Alia had not responded to the allegations at the time of filing this report.
Download and read the soft copy of the petition below: