The Benue State House of Assembly declined to confirm Vincent Gisaor, a nominee put forward by Governor Hyacinth Alia for membership in the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission. The rejection came as a result of Gisaor’s alleged insulting remarks against the Tiv tribe on his Facebook page.

Gisaor was among the eight nominees submitted for screening by the state electoral commission. The other nominees include Dr. John Chen (Chairman), Theodore Uchi, Terhemen Shom, Solomon Deva, Peter Ogagbolo, Edache Isaac, and Gloria Clement.

During a plenary session, Cephas Dyako, a member of the House representing Konshisha State Constituency, drew the attention of his colleagues to Gisaor’s Facebook post prior to his nomination. Dyako highlighted that the nominee had made derogatory comments about the entire Tiv ethnic group in the state.

Dyako informed the House, “Mr. Gisaor used the phrase ‘your nyash’ in Tiv dialect to refer to all the Tiv people in his post, which I find very offensive coming from a person in his position.”

Dyako further revealed that someone had advised Gisaor to delete the post and apologize, but he refused to do so.

When asked to explain himself, Gisaor stated that during a conflict between the Yarev and Ikparev people of Tyo-mu in Makurdi, he encountered an elderly woman who insulted the Tiv people while speaking to him.

“I was simply quoting the woman, but unfortunately, the recording I made of her response to my question about the cause of the fight got deleted from the post,” Gisaor clarified.

However, the lawmakers were unconvinced by Gisaor’s explanation. They unanimously agreed that the nominee was unfit for a public office and urged the House not to confirm his nomination.

In his ruling, Speaker Hyacinth Dajoh emphasized that the nominee had not quoted anyone in his post, indicating that it was his own opinion.

Consequently, the Speaker requested the governor to nominate another individual in place of Gisaor.