Reports that the current administration in Benue State has exercised the discretion to exclude the Education Commissioner, Professor Dennis Ityavyar from investigation of a corruption allegation despite calls by the immediate past Executive Chairman of the State Teachers Service Board, (TSB) Dr. Wilfred Uji may continue to remain strange.

It appears strange actually that Uji who sought for investigation of anyone including Commissioner Ityavyar for the alleged involvement in fraudulent activities of the education ministry said, the persons must be investigated by the anti corruption agencies and appropriate sanctions imposed for his offense in the interest of justice, equity and good conscience to serve as deterrence.

On Sunday, April 5th, 2020, the news of Dr. Uji's resignation was aired on Radio Benue during the 8.00pm news programme. The news indicated that Secretary to the State Government, Professor Tony Ijohor (SAN) who accepted the resignation paid glowing tribute to the erstwhile Executive Secretary and wished him more successes in the future engagements. It indicated equally that Dr. Uji was not sacked by the government.

The acceptance of his resignation from the appointment influenced the decision to give the press release which contained damning details of the issues presented for the court of public opinion to adjudicate upon but the Honourable Commissioner regarded the release as an affront and countered with a press briefing.

The development has opened the Pandora's box in the sense that the media have become inundated with news worth of the description as disclosure of moral rot! For instance, the Punch Newspaper of Monday, April 6th, 2020 reported that the Commissioner had alleged financial impropriety against Dr. Uji in the service of the board. According to the newspaper, Ityavyar had alleged that Uji introduced illegal school fees to defraud principals of secondary schools in the state.

The report added that transfer of principals under Dr. Uji was premised on favoritism contrary to laid down directives of the education ministry. The professor accused Dr. Uji also of directing allegedly, school principals to pay the sum of N3000.00 each school for official portrait of the TSB boss in violation of government regulations. According to the Commissioner, some of the schools did not take possession of the portraits before Uji exited from the office while transfer of teachers to other schools was commercialized.

Other misdemeanors existed according to the Commissioner to justify punishment of Dr. Uji Professor Ityavyar assured of correcting the alleged anomalies aimed at restoring sanity to the board. On the other hand, Uji denied the allegations according to the Punch newspaper and urged the EFCC to squeeze the Commissioner for embezzling allegedly billions of naira belonging to the ministry.

Summarizing the offenses, Dr. Uji alleged that Professor Ityavyar directed payment of school fees into a private consortium known as Gamit and diverted allegedly the proceeds to personal use contrary to official stipulations. Another aspect of the alleged embezzlement according to the report is imposition of the alleged sum of N250,000.00 each school must pay to the Commissioner for purchase of one grass-cutting machine in every school.

Yet another allegation against Professor Ityavyar by Dr. Uji is imposition of the sum of money beginning from N200,000.00 and above on every school in the name of ground rent not supported by any properly known documentation. Uji made another allegation that the 500,000 estimated population of students in secondary schools across the have been forced by the education Commissioner to pay N500.00 each student and the practice which started about five years ago under the management of a private firm in the name of Gold Fingers has not produced a single identity card for the students.

Dr. Uji alleged further that the experience was not different from another imposition of the sum of N1,500.00 each student paid to the Gold Fingers for bio-metric capture nearly five years stewardship of the Professor as Commissioner. Meanwhile, as the result is yet to come from the project, Dr. Uji suspected the process as fraud and urged the anti graft agencies to investigate the deals!

The accusations and counter accusations have opened widely the flood gate of questions the authorities in the Makurdi Government House cannot afford to sweep under the carpet. In the first place, bureaucratic bottle neck has been blamed by Dr. Uji allegedly as reason for his press statement intended at drawing attention of the public to the inhibition of access for other political appointees to the Executive Governor apart from the Commissioners who discuss with him directly. Uji faulted the process that it has the tendency to make a supervising Commissioner to be super corrupt and called for its reappraisal.

His complained that the practice frustrates transparent operations of the system as the former TSB boss stated in his paper presented a public event organized by one of the media establishments in Makurdi, Benue State which News Echo edition of October 2019 carried part of the lamentation on page three.

With the caption "perspectives on good governance..." the don vilified the most top operators of the ministry who make allegedly rigid the process of good governance and that it stifles development as well as frustrates transformation effort of others to the extent that makes mockery of the determination to achieve a corruption free society. From the analysis, the presence of corruption is strong in the state's public service the education ministry as part of the service should attract Governor Ortom's attention and not fail to overlook. With the situation, calls for investigation of Professor Ityavyar as a suspect in the alleged scandalous deals of the ministry could be most deserving no doubt!

Under the circumstance, he should proceed on immediate compulsory leave to facilitate access for the probe. The measure may serve as best antidote and perhaps, the only transparent way of fighting to defeat corruption in the state.