Ortom seeks audit of $1bn fund governors gave Nigerian govt to fight insurgency, terrorism

The governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, on Tuesday challenged the federal government to account for the $1 billion security funding that the nation’s 36 states had pooled together to combat insurgency.

Ortom made this call while speaking to reporters at the Government House in Makurdi, shortly before the State Security Council meeting.

The governor questioned what the federal government had done with the money used to fund the country’s growing insecurity.

Ortom also claimed he had instructed his deputy, Benson Abounu, to ask for answers on the situation, at a virtual meeting of the Nigerian Governors Forum.

He said, “What have they done with the $1bn the Governors Forum gave on behalf of the local governments for security? That money is huge. What have they done with the money that terrorists will kidnap citizens without any rescue mission?

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“It is even more worrisome and unthinkable that terrorists will threaten to kidnap our President. If that happens, that means we have no country again.”

The governor emphasized that protecting lives and property was the fundamental duty of any responsible government, but he also said it was intolerable for innocent Nigerians to be at the mercy of terrorists.

“We must not allow this to continue, it is very painful to see the country where it is today,” he said.

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