Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, on Friday, January 12, that the Supreme Court judgement, which affirmed his election victory, has placed more burden on him.
Governor Alia, who stated this while speaking to journalists at the State House after a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and the Progressive Governors Forum at the State House, Abuja, however, assured the people of Benue he would keep faith with them.
Alia, who vowed to continue bringing the dividends of democracy to the state, even as he said his administration had already commenced a number of critical projects in the state, added that not less than 16 roads had already been commissioned.
Responding to a question about what the people of Benue should look forward to under his leadership, he said, “I know it is a victory not just for me and as a person but for the great people of Benue State. The victory is sweet, and it places more burdens on our output, both input and output.
“That is the expectation, and the expectation is that even the courts re-affirmed the mandate the people gave me, and I’m quite happy with that. Again, it simply implies that we have to get out there and do some more; let them feel the impact of what they are inspecting.
“When they give you the mandate,. It is an inspection, and then what you put out there for them becomes their expectation, and I know it’s very, very tall, and we’ve already started a number of projects.
“We commissioned 16 roads. Quite a number done out of the 16 as I’m speaking here now. The remaining work is still with them. We’re hoping that in the next month or two, all 16 roads will have been completed.
“Work is already ongoing as I’m speaking here on the renovation of the 40-year-old State Secretariat, which has never been touched before. It was quite in a dilapidated state. So we’re going to reinvent it.
“We’re working on reforming our civil service. Work has actually begun, and we also have an institute specifically for that. On Wednesday, the state exco gave approval for the Institute to be established just to train and retrain civil service I feel it’s a milestone that we understand fully, while in the civil service, there is an expectation of you.
“And I’m happy there is approval, and work has already begun on that. So plus all those that I have mentioned, there are many more expectations from the folks.
“We appreciate the support they continue to give. We’re going to live up to the expectations, and then we keep giving them the dividends of democracy.”