Fresh controversy as Benue SUBEB chairman resigns | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
15th April 2020
It appears that all may not be well within the Benue State Ministry of Education as the Executive Secretary, Benue State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Emmanuel Aper on Tuesday resigned his position.
This resignation is coming less than two weeks after the resignation and replacement of  the Executive Secretary of the Teaching Service Board (TSB), Dr Wilfred Uji after a protracted disagreement with the Commissioner for Education, Professor Dennis Ityavyar.
Although details of Aper’s resignation are sketchy, insider sources claim that the pastor whose appointment is less than a year old was also having skirmishes with Ityavyar over issues relating to financial matters at the Board.
Some claimed that Aper had several times complained to those close to him of the Commissioner’s overbearing influence on his parastatal.
“The man is tired of Ityavyar who is always asking for money. You know the whole state is aware that there is money in SUBEB. So, he is under pressure from commissioner to remit something every month. As a principled pastor, he has refused and the commissioner is angry with him. The man has decided to return to his former assignment – the pulpit”, the Sun quoted a source as saying.
The paper also reported that there has been an ongoing controversy in the Ministry of Education where the outgone Executive Secretary of SUBEB and the Commissioner of Education are embroiled in a financial scandal.
The Commissioner who has been accused by the resigned Executive Secretary is also widely accused of amassing wealth in order to pursue a widely acclaimed succession dream of taking over from the present governor in 2023.
Governor Samuel Ortom, on Wednesday, accepted the resignation of Aper as the SUBEB Executive Secretary.
Reacting to the resignation, Ortom in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Anthony Ijohor, appreciated the contributions Aper made for the development of education in the state.
The Governor wished him well in his future endeavours.
Meanwhile, Aper has been directed to handover all government property in his custody to the Secretary to the State Government.