Ortom, Alia clash over Benue’s ₦100bn loan approval
By Jeffrey Agbo
Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, and his predecessor, Samuel Ortom, have engaged in a war of words over the ₦100 billion loan recently approved by the State House of Assembly.
The House, during an emergency plenary last Friday, granted approval for the governor to obtain the loan to fund a series of infrastructural projects across the state.
Governor Alia explained that the facility would finance the renovation and equipping of the 23 general hospitals, the rehabilitation and construction of science schools, and the completion of ongoing roads, bridges, drainage, and electricity projects.
He added that the loan would also cover the construction of skills acquisition centres, the building of smart schools across all federal constituencies, and the development of the Benue State University of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Ihugh.
However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue, through its Publicity Secretary, Tim Nyor, criticised the approval, arguing that the Alia administration had already received significant allocations from the Federation Account over the past two years.
Reacting through his media aide, Kula Tersoo, Governor Alia hit back at the PDP, accusing Ortom’s administration of “democratising poverty” by leaving behind a trail of unpaid salaries and pensions.
Alia described his predecessor’s tenure as a “colossal failure” that plunged the state into huge debt and underdevelopment.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP-led administration, especially that of Samuel Ortom, by their own admission, left behind a staggering direct debt burden of ₦187.7 billion, a weight that has constrained the state’s finances and development capacity.
“This administration later discovered that the figure was grossly understated and uncovered an additional ₦170 billion owed through local government areas. It is unbelievable that Ortom’s administration accumulated this humongous debt and still refused to pay civil servants and pensioners their entitlements.
“Furthermore, it is shocking that the Ortom government, after receiving several financial interventions from the Federal Government — including bailout funds, LNG funds, and two tranches of the Paris Club debt refund — alongside unexplained direct borrowing, still handed over to Fr. Alia a debt profile of ₦187.7 billion, twelve months’ arrears of salaries for state civil servants, ten months’ arrears for local government staff, about thirty-six months’ pension arrears, and a landscape of collapsed infrastructure across the state, bringing the total debt to ₦359 billion,” the statement read.
In a swift response, Ortom, through his media aide, Terver Akase, accused Alia of avoiding accountability and ignoring the substantive issues raised by the opposition.
He faulted the governor’s constant comparisons with his administration despite what he said was a more than 500 per cent increase in federal allocations to Benue State.
Ortom explained that his administration had left behind pending federal approvals for the disbursement of funds, including the balance of the ₦41 billion bailout and a ₦20 billion Central Bank of Nigeria facility, as well as refunds running into billions for subsidy withdrawals and SURE-P funds.
He further accused the current administration of failing to disclose whether it had received the SURE-P refunds or how they were utilised.
The former governor also queried the ₦68.3 billion contract for rehabilitating a 13-kilometre stretch from Wurukum Roundabout to the Air Force Base in Makurdi, and another ₦73 billion road project allegedly leading to the governor’s hometown.
“To date, the Alia government has not provided any explanation in response to the concerns raised. The government has similarly kept sealed lips on probing questions regarding the ₦73 billion reportedly approved for a road project leading to the governor’s village in Mbadede, Vandeikya Local Government Area.
“Each time Governor Alia is confronted with questions bordering on transparency in governance or the welfare of Benue people, his reflex action is to attack Chief Ortom instead of providing facts and figures.
“This pattern of behaviour, now clearly habitual, smacks of an administration that is averse to probity and intent on evading the responsibility of explaining how public funds are being managed,” Ortom said.
He also challenged the governor to publish details of how the huge revenues received since May 2023 had been spent.
“Why the secrecy surrounding the state’s finances? And why the desperate attempt to silence anyone who dares to ask these questions?
“Rather than address these legitimate concerns, Governor Alia has chosen the path of diversion, resorting to insults, half-truths, and false claims about Chief Ortom, whose stewardship as governor remains one of selfless service, transparency, good governance, and courage in defending the people of Benue State, particularly in the face of grave security challenges,” the statement added.
