The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State, Tersoo Kula, has accused Senator Titus Zam of Benue North-West of consistently deploying “reckless vitriol and falsehood” against the governor.
Kula, in a statement issued on Thursday, said he was compelled to respond to what he described as a “malicious and poorly conceived” article authored by one of the senator’s aides, which targeted him personally.
According to the CPS, the publication amounted to “baseless invectives” and was a deliberate attempt to malign his role as the governor’s spokesperson.
“The whole piece drips with desperation, bitterness, and malicious name-calling. Reducing a public discourse to mafia-style analogies of ‘hitmen’ and ‘dons’ only exposes the writer’s obsession with fiction, not facts. Benue people deserve substance, not kiddish analogies,” Kula said.
He accused Senator Zam of being intolerant of criticism despite having, on several occasions, “deployed gutter language” against Governor Alia in public forums and online spaces.
“The job of a Chief Press Secretary is to serve as the governor’s mouthpiece, and that is exactly what I have done responsibly and firmly. If Zam mistakes firmness for intimidation, he should reflect on the reckless invectives he throws daily at the governor,” the statement read.
Kula further alleged that the senator had made the governor his “full-time constituency project,” focusing more on personal attacks than on constructive criticism.
“No adult in Benue is oblivious of the fact that Senator Zam has, over time, made Governor Alia the object of constant attacks. Such obsession cannot be dignified as constructive criticism. Governance is about delivering development, which this administration is focused on,” he stated.
The CPS maintained that he would not apologize for defending the governor, adding that his “weapons are facts, clarity, and loyalty to the truth.”
Kula also called on Zam and his aides to “learn the perimeters of responsible discourse,” stressing that free speech must be exercised with responsibility.
He highlighted the Alia administration’s achievements, including infrastructure development, agricultural revival, payment of workers’ salaries, and restoring “dignity to governance,” insisting that such progress could not be erased by propaganda.
“Attacking the governor and maligning his aides will not improve a single community road nor provide one job for the youth,” Kula said.
Benue: Senator Titus Zam under fire over media attacks on Gov Alia
