Benue State Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia said increased federal financial allocation under President Bola Tinubu’s administration have widened the state’s fiscal space, enabling a stepped-up program of roads, rehabilitation of idle industry and other capital projects.
Governor Alia stated this after a delegation of more than 40 editors and journalists, part of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors National Media Tour led by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, inspected major federal and state projects across Benue.
The Governor explained that the uptick in allocations has allowed his administration to pay salaries and pensions, boost internally generated revenue and accelerate work on strategic assets.
“The increased federal allocation has given us more fiscal space to do some of the things that we could not do before,” Alia said in a media briefing.
“We are using the resources responsibly to revive industries, build roads and provide infrastructure that will directly impact the lives of our people.”
He pointed to the rehabilitation of Taraku Mills, an agro-processing plant in Gwer East Local Government Area established in 1989, as emblematic of the administration’s effort to restore Benue’s industrial base and deepen the agricultural value chain.
The state’s plan, he said, is to link farmer grants with processing capacity so crops such as soybeans have domestic outlets that create jobs and spur local economic activity.
Governor Alia urged prudent management of the additional funds.
“The management skills of those funds is what would be of importance here,” he said, adding that transfers from the federation account should be used for salaries, infrastructure and security in line with their intended purpose.
The media delegation toured a series of projects implemented by both federal and state authorities.
At the federal level, they viewed work on the Lafia Bypass and the dualisation of Section II of the Makurdi–Otukpo–9th Mile (Enugu) road, a roughly 250.6‑kilometre corridor being built by China Harbour Engineering Company for the Federal Ministry of Works.
According to a statement by Tunde Rahman – Director of Media and Publicity for the Renewed Hope Ambassadors and President Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Special Duties,
Governor Alia described the corridor as vital to reducing transport costs for farmers in Nigeria’s “food basket” and improving regional trade links between Nasarawa, Benue and Enugu states.
He said the State projects included the 52‑kilometre Awajir–Oju Road, which cuts through Gwer East, Konshisha and Oju local government areas.
The Benue Governor described the state’s work as complementary to federal interventions and a corrective to a period of strained relations with the centre that he said had previously cost Benue political relevance and development opportunities.
Onanuga, who led the media team, praised the visible gains.
“Even though we have not even completed this road, it has shortened the travel time between Makurdi and Otukpo,” he said, adding that the federal government “deserves a lot of applause for touching almost every part of Nigeria” with infrastructure projects.
The team also inspected the Otobi waterworks in Otukpo Local Government Area.
Juliet Maka, Director of urban water supply and quality control for the Benue State Water Board, said the facility supplies Otukpo, Otobi and neighbouring communities and is operating at its 10,000‑cubic‑meter‑per‑day capacity.
The Renewed Hope Ambassadors tour is documenting federal and state projects to provide independent assessments of their implementation and local impact, according to the delegation’s publicity director.
