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“Governor Alia sent a letter directing that I should relocate the Tor Tiv Palace to his community. I rejected it. I told him he wanted to kill me. That was one of my biggest offences,” Dajoh alleged on Saturday during his 50th birthday celebration at Akpagher Mbatiav, Gboko LGA.
Former Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Hyacinth Dajoh, has accused Governor Hyacinth Alia of forcing him to resign for refusing to relocate the Tor Tiv palace from Gboko to the governor’s hometown in Ihugh, Vandeikya LGA.
Dajoh, who represented Gboko West and was elected speaker on June 5, 2023, said the move to compel him to support the relocation was orchestrated through official communications, which he immediately rejected.
“Governor Alia sent a letter directing that I should relocate the Tor Tiv Palace to his community. I rejected it. I told him he wanted to kill me. That was one of my biggest offences,” Dajoh alleged on Saturday during his 50th birthday celebration at Akpagher Mbatiav, Gboko LGA.
The former speaker said the governor’s allies, including powerful aides like Moses Ternenge, warned him that rejecting the proposal would mean the end of his speakership.
Dajoh resigned in August 2025, just 48 hours after the House suspended four lawmakers over an alleged attempt to impeach him. He was later suspended himself for nine months amid claims he plotted to impeach the governor—a move his supporters described as a political witch-hunt.
The ex-speaker also accused Governor Alia of betraying promises made to the people of Jemgbagh ahead of the 2023 elections, including his own declaration that oppressors of the people would be afflicted with madness.
“It was on this soil that Alia said anybody who beats the Jemgbagh people will be inflicted with madness. But he has beaten Tor Jemgbagh and Ter Gboko, moved their speaker to another zone, and harmed their sons. He has been inflicted with madness himself,” Dajoh said.
