In response to recent comments made by Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia regarding the security situation in the state, Mr. Terrence Kuanum, Special Adviser to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, has issued a statement.

Alia, who was a guest on Channels Television on Friday, criticized Akume and “his cronies” for remaining silent on the growing insecurity in the state.

Akume served as governor of Benue from 1999 to 2007.

The governor claimed that an interim report from a judicial panel he set up implicated politicians based in Abuja and within the national assembly in the orchestration of attacks in the state.

Although Alia refrained from naming those indicted, he said the report would be made public by Tuesday or Wednesday next week.

In a statement released Saturday, Kuanum countered that Akume has been actively engaged in addressing security concerns in Benue and ensures that such matters are consistently brought to President Bola Tinubu’s attention.

He argued that the governor either misunderstands the workings of government or is attempting to manipulate public opinion by demanding that Akume publicly address the media on the state’s security situation.

Kuanum called on Alia to submit the names of those implicated in the report to both President Tinubu and the federal security council.

“If the Governor of Benue State has expected that the SGF would be seen in the media discussing the efforts he has been making in that regard, then it betrays either a lack of understanding of governmental administrative procedure, or he is deliberately and unfortunately seeking to manipulate public sentiments against the SGF,” the statement reads.

“As a member of the Federal Security Council His Excellency Governor Hyacinth Alia very well understands how the Federal Executive Council functions and how it is through its channels of communication and administrative action, in which the SGF is centrally involved, that several security interventions have been made to Benue State and elsewhere towards tackling insecurity.

“It is also pertinent to remind His Excellency the Governor of Benue State that those he has persistently sought to label as cronies of the SGF in Abuja, particularly those in the National Assembly, have been most vociferous on the floor of the NASS in calling attention to issues of insecurity in Benue State.

Distinguished Senators Titus Zam and Emmanuel Udende as well as members of the House of Representatives from Benue State have been up and doing consistently in keeping the issue of attacks, killings and kidnappings by suspected herdsmen, bandits and terrorists on the front burner of discussion in both chambers of the NASS.

“Those efforts by the Benue lawmakers in the NASS have resulted in a number of motions which have gotten the attention and action of the Federal Executive Council.

“By his official designation, the SGF is permitted more of asymmetrical contributions to the scourge of insecurity in Nigeria, which yields more telling impact, than if he were to be mounting the rostrum to publicly discuss what he does regarding the matter.

“On the allegations by His Excellency the Governor that the report of his Panel of Inquiry indicts certain persons of complicity in fuelling insecurity in a part of Benue State, it is noteworthy that by administrative procedure, such reports are taken through stages of vetting and gazetting into a White Paper before their content may be deemed as a credible and official position of Government.

“But since His Excellency the Governor has chosen, perhaps as a result of how burning the issue is, to let the cat out of the bag before the administrative procedure, we urge him to make good on his word and expose those involved in the crime of aiding and abetting insecurity in his state.

His Excellency the Governor of Benue State must understand that his allegations and preemptive indictment of the persons so fingered now carry the weight of national security concern and must be treated as such.

“He should forward to His Excellency the President and to the Federal Security Council the names of those so indicted and their roles in sponsoring, aiding and abetting insecurity in Benue State as he claimed, and should also bring it publicly to the attention of the whole world who those enemies of Benue State are,” he stated.