It is no news that the current governor of Benue State is an ordained priest of the Catholic Church.
Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia contested as a gubernatorial candidate under the APC and won the seat in 2023. What is not known is the step the church has taken towards the priest’s office. It has been revealed that the governor was suspended in 2022 as soon as he purchased a governorship for his state.
A letter from the Bishop of the Gboko Diocese, Bishop Williams A Avenya, where Fr. Alia was functioning as the parish of St Thomas Parish before he went into politics revealed this.
The Bishop began the letter by acknowledging the good that the priest who was known for his healing ministry has done in his pastoral services. The letter which was dated the previous year before the priest assumed office as the governor of his state also asserted that the priest had been admonished about his political ambition prior to the letter.
The Bishop further communicated that the Catholic church frowns at her priest participating in politics and bars them from contesting for political positions. The letter was addressed to all lay faithful, the religious and priests of the Gboko Dioceses and further pointed to the canon Law as the guiding light. He also mentioned that the priest, whom he referred to in the letter as his son, was aware of the tenets.
Observing that the priest had purchased a governorship for under APC, the Bishop ruled that the priest turned politician has been suspended from carrying out sacred ministry as a priest.
The letter also added that the suspension which is backed by the Church’s Cannon Law was ruled to fulfil the church’s spiritual and pastoral needs. The Bishop also added that the suspension lasts until the priest repents of misconduct.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church wasn’t the group of persons against him going into politics. Indigenes of his state criticised his ambition using the notion that Nigeria’s dirty politics would taint his spirituality and his spiritual role.
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