Benue Guber: District Heads reject Tor Tiv's directive

In a fit of anger, District Heads in Tivland yesterday rose from a meeting with the Tor

Tor Tiv Alfred Akawe Torkula

Tiv, HRH Alfred Akawe Torkula  and vowed to resist attempts by the paramount ruler of the Tiv to coerce them into voting the PDP candidate in the April 11th governorship elections.

About N1.3million was shared to the 176 district heads with each going home with sum of N7,000.

The Tor Tiv had secretly invited the District Heads to further sell the candidature of Hon Terhemen Tarzoor, the PDP governorship candidate to the traditional rulers.

He however avoided extending the invitation to the 14 second class chiefs also known as the ' U Ter' who as gathered, do not subscribe to his political leaning.

There are 176 districts in the fourteen local government areas in the Tiv speaking are of Benue State.

Sources close to the meeting said the Tor Tiv told the district heads to go and work with the kindred heads and all their subjects to ensure that the PDP governorship candidate whom he said is his 'son' wins the forthcoming governorship election.

A traditional ruler who attended the meeting confided in us that "the Tor Tiv has continued to play a very dangerous role in the political equation in the state and this is not healthy to the unity of the components units of the state. How could the Tor Tiv select a candidate among his numerous children and say it's his preferred son" he asked angrily.

Asked what the general mood of his colleagues in the traditional council was after the Tor Tiv gave them the marching orders, the distrcit head, disclosed that "as custodians of our culture and values, i can tell you that majority of us are of the opinion that the Tiv people will follow the direction the entire country is headed. We can't be allowed to be swayed by clannish tendencies at this critical time when the nation is gravitating towards another."