By Chiangi Avese, Makurdi
A group of academics from Kunav in Vandeikya Local government Area, Jeichira federal constituency in Benue state has strongly disapproved a petition to the Catholic Bishops in the State by Coalition of Gubernatorial Aspirants against the Benue state governor, Hyacinth Alia, accusing him of transgressions.
A statement signed by the 36 academics and made available to THE AUTHORITY in Makurdi, on Tuesday which categorically distanced the group from political affiliation, noted that the group’s stance is “not as politicians, apologists for any administration, but as academics, researchers, and stakeholders from Kunav extraction who are deeply committed to the truth, the development of Benue State, and the integrity of our sacred institutions”.
Part of the statement read:
“We have called this press conference because our attention has been drawn to a document circulating in the public space—a petition dated February 27, 2026, addressed to the Catholic Bishops of Gboko, Otukpo, Makurdi, and Katsina-Ala. This petition was authored by a group calling itself the “Coalition of Gubernatorial Aspirants (From Vandeikya Local Government Area.” The petitioners are Surveyor Godwin Ityoachimin, Hon. Joseph Waya, Rt. Hon. Dominic Ucha, Prof. Paul Angya, Prof. Denis Ityavyar, and Prof. Terhemba Shija.
As academics trained in the art of critical analysis, we read that document with a deep sense of disappointment. What we found was not a genuine pastoral concern, but a carefully scripted political manifesto disguised as a religious complaint. We found half-truths presented as facts, metaphors twisted into malice, and ambition dressed in the garb of piety. We are here today to set the record straight. We are here to provide the context that was deliberately omitted.
We are here to remind the good people of Benue State that the Governor of our state, His Excellency, Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Hyacinth Iormem Alia, is not a sectional leader. He is the Governor of Benue State who was elected by the majority of votes across Tiv, Idoma, and Igede lands.
We are also here to identify the individuals behind this petition—men whose names are no strangers to the political chessboard of Benue State. These are the same individuals who, weeks ago, held a press conference announcing their ambition to unseat Governor Alia in 2027. Their petition to the Bishops is simply Chapter Two of that same political manifesto.
But while they speak of rhetoric and threats, we will speak of roads constructed, salaries paid, industries revived, and lives transformed. While they weaponize the pulpit, we will defend the sanctuary”.
The group absolved Governor Alia of accusations in the petition describing them as “misrepresentation of the event at All Saints Catholic Church in Tsenge on January 18, 2026, and the metaphorical language attributed to the Governor, specifically regarding “biting fingers” and “beheading,” saying, the accusations are “a classic case of taking words out of context to manufacture outrage.
“They explained that “Governor Alia was not delivering a political campaign speech; he was addressing the congregation and his well-wishers during the Thanksgiving ceremony, a cultural and religious event in which it is customary for the guest of honour to offer exhortations.
“is a deliberate and malicious misinterpretation of indigenous rhetoric. In Tiv socio-political discourse, such proverbial expressions are traditionally used to emphasize the need for resilience, vigilance, and self-defense against political persecution. To equate these idioms with a literal endorsement of violence is either intellectually dishonest or a sign of a weak grasp of Tiv communication nuances.
The Governor was responding to years of documented political persecution, targeted attacks, and institutional sabotage by certain vested interests who feel threatened by his administration’s anti-corruption stance. When a leader speaks of self-defense in his native land, it is a statement of resolve, not a call for physical assault”.
Regarding the Ter-Gboko incident at St. George Catholic Church in Tyobo, the group opined that context was again missing. “The Governor has consistently advocated for respect for constituted traditional authority. If there were tensions, they were matters of political realignment and local governance, not threats issued from the pulpit. To frame routine political interaction as “intimidation” is a stretch designed to fit a pre-determined narrative of victimhood”.
“We submit that the true desecration of sacred space is not the Governor’s attendance at Mass, where he is entitled to worship as a Catholic, but the act of reducing church gatherings to a venue for filing political petitions. The Vandeikya aspirants have used the Church’s name and the letterhead of a religious complaint to pursue a naked political agenda: the governorship of Benue State in 2027.
Governor Alia is a priest who heeded the people’s call to serve in the temporal order. His presence in the church is first and foremost as a baptized Catholic seeking the Eucharist. To suggest that his former clerical status is a tool for “gaining access to pulpits” is offensive to the clergy and priesthood generally. Our priests and Bishops are men of integrity and sound theological grounding; they are not pawns to be manipulated by any politician”.
The group of academics wondered why
the aspirants, many of whom have held public office, are deeply concerned about “rhetoric,” but have chosen to remained conspicuously silent about the tangible developmental strides of the Alia administration.
“Where was their petition when Benue State was drowning in unpaid salaries? Where was their concern for “sanctity” when previous administrations turned the government house into a den of inequity? Their selective amnesia reveals their true motive: they are not interested in the Church’s sanctity, but in capturing the Government House. This is unfortunate and should be condemned”.
It frowned at the individuals who should ordinarily contribute to intellectual and political maturity in the state but have chosen instead, to embark on a campaign of sensationalism, adding that Benue people are politically conscious and will not be misled by elite quarrels disguised as religious concern.
