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The Benue State Sports Marketing and Lottery Board is embroiled in a deepening crisis following grave allegations of financial impropriety, conflict of interest, and administrative misconduct centered on its Executive Secretary, Hon. Michael Uper.
Insiders allege that Uper, through his private consultancy firm Upper Premier Services Limited, secured a loan exceeding ₦100 million without approval from any competent government authority while serving as a consultant to the board prior to his appointment as Executive Secretary in December 2024 by Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia. Sources claim that even after assuming the top administrative role, Uper continued to operate in dual capacities, deploying his firm to collect revenues on behalf of the board while bypassing official government accounts.
Revenues allegedly collected through this arrangement are said to have been diverted primarily toward servicing the controversial loan rather than remitted to the state coffers or used for statutory obligations, including staff salaries. Despite the board generating an estimated average of over ₦20 million monthly, workers have reportedly gone for months without pay, plunging many into severe financial hardship.
“It is unbearable,” an anonymous staff member told reporters. “We generate money every month, but salaries are not paid, running costs are ignored, and nothing is remitted to government. Everything is allegedly tied to servicing a private loan.”
The salary crisis has severely dampened morale, stalled operations, and abandoned planned upgrades and reforms, bringing the once-vibrant revenue-generating agency to the brink of paralysis.
Efforts to obtain official responses from the board’s management and Hon. Uper proved unsuccessful, with no comments forthcoming on the weighty allegations.
Concerned stakeholders and civil society groups are now mounting pressure on Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia, the Benue State House of Assembly, Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Creativity Hon. Tiza Imojime Orya, relevant oversight committees, and anti-corruption agencies including the ICPC and EFCC to launch an immediate and thorough probe. They warn that continued inaction risks further eroding public trust in the state’s revenue institutions.
As the scandal unfolds, the situation at the Benue State Sports Marketing and Lottery Board has emerged as a litmus test for accountability, transparency, and good governance under the current administration.
