(Benue Map. Photo Credit: PremuimTimes)
In the past two years, Tarka Local Government Area in Benue State has spent roughly 122 million naira buying vehicles and motorcycles for its officials.
Last year, the council bought 10 electric motorcycles for about 22 million naira.
These were handed to ward councillors and a primary health centre to help them move around easier.
A few weeks ago, the council distributed five cars and 25 more motorcycles worth 100 million naira to senior staff and appointees.
The deputy chairman, council secretary, legislative leader, elder council representative and the chairman’s spokesperson received different brands of vehicles.
Other councillors, advisers and party officials got the motorcycles.
The council chairman, Raphael Yenge, said the vehicles and motorcycles were given to officials to help them travel better and support the administration’s work.
He told journalists visiting the council that the administration has achieved successes in education.
The council gave scholarships to 330 students, registered 400 people from the area for university entrance exams and shared 10,000 exercise books to students.
Beyond education, the council has also fixed 22 boreholes across different wards, installed electricity transformers in communities and improved how much workers are paid.
The journalists’ union chairman, who led the tour, said the visit was to check on development progress in the council, not to investigate anybody.
