Benue Assembly rejects Gov Alia’s nominee over alleged Facebook post insulting Tiv tribe

The Benue State House of Assembly on Thursday, refused to endorse one the nominees of Governor Hyacinth Alia as a member of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), Vincent Gisaor, for allegedly insulting the Tiv tribe in a Facebook post.

Gisaor who was one of the eight nominees presented to the House by Alia, was rejected by the lawmakers during the screening following alleged derogatory post he reportedly made about the Tiv ethnic group in the state.

The issue was raised during the screening session by the lawmaker representing Konshisha State Constituency, a predominantly Tiv zone Cephas Dyako, who called the Assembly’s attention to the Facebook post allegedly made by Gisaor.

According to Dyako, Gisoar had, in the Facebook post, made derogatory remarks about the Tiv ethnic group in the state which many found distasteful.

“Mr Gisaor said in Tiv dialect ‘your nyash’ to all the Tiv people in his post, which I find very derogatory from a person of his standing,” Dyako told the House.

Dyako added that despite many people who commented on Gisaor’s post advising him to delete the post and apologise, he refused to do so.

However, when the nominee was asked to defend himself by the legislators, he explained that the derogatory post did not emanate from him directly.

He told the House that when the incident happened, he met an elderly woman during a fight between the Yarev and Ikparev people of Tyo-mu in the Makurdi Local Government Area and it was the woman who insulted the Tiv people while talking to him.

“I was merely quoting the woman but the recording I made of the woman’s reply to me when I asked what caused the fight, unfortunately, got deleted from the post,” Gisaor stated.

But the lawmakers refused to buy Gisaor’s explanation and instead, agreed that he was not fit to hold such a public office and urged the House not to confirm his nomination.

While ruling on the debate, the Speaker, Hyacinth Dajoh, said the nominee never quoted anyone while making the post, so it was assumed that it was his opinion, and therefore, asked the Governor to nominate another person in place of Gisaor.

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