Against the backdrop of remarks by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, that Benue State, like others, has received huge monthly federal allocations, Governor Hyacinth Alia has warned that the state is not a commodity to be traded in private political negotiations.

The Governor also stated that the political future of the state would be determined by Benue people and not the FCT minister who, while campaigning for President Bola Tinubu, had called on state governors to execute physical projects that justify their federal allocations and the monies under their control.

However, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, has ordered Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, to disclose the state’s financial records from June 2023 to date, including revenues, loans, government contracts and other sources of public funding.

The ruling by Justice Hamza Mu’azu followed a suit by a former governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and indigene of Vandeikya Local Council Area, Joseph Waya.

Also, the state’s chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has urged Alia to explain his government’s silence to Wike’s claim that Benue now receives about N30 billion monthly from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

In a statement yesterday, the state PDP Publicity Secretary, Bright Antyo, queried why the state government had yet to publicly respond to Wike’s claim, demanding that Alia either dispute the figures or provide details of the revenue and expenditure, particularly since the removal of the fuel subsidy, had been utilised.

Responding to Wike, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Social Media Communications, Asortar James, stated in a post that “Benue is not Rivers State and Governor Alia is not Fubara.”

He added: “The political circumstances of Rivers State cannot automatically become a template for Benue. Every state has its own political realities, interests and democratic mandate.

“No political heavyweight, regardless of position or connections, should presume that Benue’s leadership can be determined through private arrangements.”

Meanwhile, Waya had accused the state government of failing to avail him of comprehensive details of the state’s revenue and expenditure requested under the Freedom of Information on September 8, 2025.

However, the court affirmed Waya’s standing to request the information and ordered compliance.

The records sought covered statutory allocations from the Federation Account, monthly internally generated revenue, federal grants and interventions, domestic and foreign loans, foreign donations, personnel costs, pension payments and government contracts.

Lamenting that Alia has yet to present a comprehensive public account of the state’s revenue and expenditure since assuming office on 29 May 2023, the PDP alleged that a combined revenue exceeding N1.3 trillion has accrued to the state government and its 23 local councils from FAAC allocations during the period under review.

This comes as the PDP also questioned the state of healthcare facilities, public schools, agricultural support programmes, road infrastructure and other development projects across the 23 local councils.