Ortom tackles Gov Alia over ‘media trial’, urges him to face governance

The former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Friday, advised his successor, Hyacinth Alia, to focus on governance instead of looking for scapegoats.

The ex-governor was reacting to steps taken by Alia since he assumed office on May 29.

The governor had in a statement issued after taking the oath of office blocked the state government’s accounts in banks and reversed appointments made by his predecessor.

He also suspended the recruitment exercise in the civil service initiated by Ortom’s administration.

However, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Terver Akase, the former governor counseled Alia against engaging in a media trial.

Ortom stressed that he inherited assets and liabilities in 2015 but did not allow that to stop his government.

The statement read: “In his latest outing, the Governor has accused his predecessor of carrying out recruitment into the civil service without due process; handing to him an empty treasury and looting government vehicles, among several other unfounded accusations.

“The present Governor did everything to frustrate his predecessor to the point of writing to banks not to honour any transaction by the outgoing government. Even at that, the Ortom administration still funded the May 29 inauguration.

“While we won’t go into a war of words with the Governor despite the media trial, it is pertinent to clarify that the Ortom administration followed due process in recruiting the workers whom the present government sacked a few days ago.

“Vacancies were duly advertised in national newspapers and those who applied for the jobs were properly interviewed/screened and the successful ones were given appointment letters as required by civil service rules. Promotions were also carried out according to the laid down service regulations.

“We expected the Alia administration to specifically point out the areas where it claimed that due process was not followed in the recruitments, instead of making sweeping statements and spurious generalizations.

READ ALSO: Ortom leaves behind N187bn debt for incoming administration in Benue

“On the issue of vehicles, the present administration may wish to be informed that it was the decision of the Benue State Executive Council that government officials including the Governor and his Deputy be given waivers to enable them to go with the official vehicles allocated to them. Governor Ortom, therefore, did nothing unlawful by leaving office with the official vehicles allocated to him.

“On the issue of finances, it appears that the Governor is yet to take time and go through the handover notes that his predecessor presented to him. Whenever he does, he will realize the efforts that the Ortom administration made to reduce the indebtedness of the state in the following ways.

“Governor Ortom was explicit in his handover speech on May 28, 2023, that though the debt situation of the State Government at the time of his exit from office might appear to be on the high side (N187.56 billion), his administration had taken proactive steps to negotiate and ensure significant debt reduction/reliefs leading to Debt Swap Between Benue State and Federal Government as facilitated by the Nigerian Governors Forum. Total Debt Swap for State and Local Government Councils stood at N71.6 billion.

“The inflows Benue State was expecting at the time Governor Ortom was leaving office were: (a) Backlog of accumulated Stamp Duties – N48billion, (b) Refund from Debt Swap with Federal Government – N22.95 billion. Total = N70.95 billion. When the negotiated debt swap and the expected inflows are discounted, the State would attain a significant debt reduction, bringing down its debt profile to N45.2 billion.

“It should also be noted that owing to the efforts of the Ortom administration, Benue State as of May 29, 2023, had outstanding approvals awaiting disbursement from the Federal Government including the balance of Bailout – N41 billion and a N20 billion Central Bank of Nigeria facility.”

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