At least, 300 traditional stools in Benue State are presently vacant and needeto be replaced with new monarchs.
Special Adviser on Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Barrister Kenneth Achabo, made the disclosure on Tuesday while answering questions from journalists in Makurdi.
Achabo said people have been on acting capacity of some of the vacant stools since the deaths of the occupants while others were laced with either controversies or conflicts.
He explained that the need to fill up the vacancies was why Governor Samuel Ortom held meeting with stakeholders from the Idoma axis (Zone C) on Tuesday, adding that similar meetings would be held with the other two districts – zone A and B – of the state.
“There are issues to be tackled. We needed to fill vacancies in zone C and indeed in the whole Benue State as there are over 300 vacant traditional stools. People have been acting in some of those positions for up to 20 years and that isn’t good enough.
“So the essence of the meeting is to meet stakeholders to resolve certain knotty issues such as excess kindred heads and beaded chiefs. So, the Benue state government has set up committee to report back within four weeks. We are now facing the issue in zone C and then we will do same in zone A and B,” he said.
The Special Adviser stressed that those knotty issues which couldn’t be immediately addressed during the meeting, necessitated the formation of the high powered committee to get to the bottom of the matter and report back to the governor in a month’s time before further actions can be taken.
