Former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has accused his successor, Governor Hyacinth Alia, of launching repeated attacks on him to divert public attention from questions surrounding the state’s finances and a recently approved ₦100 billion loan.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Media Adviser, Terver Akase, Ortom described the governor’s recent comments—contained in a press statement from Alia’s Chief Press Secretary—as “baseless and diversionary,” saying they were aimed at evading scrutiny over the government’s financial dealings.
Akase said rather than respond to legitimate concerns raised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) regarding the loan approval, the Alia administration has resorted to attacking Ortom personally. He accused the governor of exhibiting “growing intolerance for accountability” and “an obsession with dragging Ortom’s name into every issue, no matter how unrelated.”
“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,” Akase stated.
The statement questioned how the current administration has managed the huge revenues that have accrued to the state since May 2023, particularly amid reports of contract awards “without due process or budgetary provisions.” It cited the ₦68.3 billion road project from Wurukum Roundabout to the Air Force Base in Makurdi and another ₦73 billion project allegedly leading to the governor’s hometown in Vandeikya Local Government Area as examples of questionable expenditures.
Akase accused the Alia government of maintaining “secrecy around state finances” and failing to explain how public funds are being managed, despite increased federal allocations following the removal of fuel subsidy.
He also dismissed the Alia administration’s claims regarding Benue’s debt profile, describing them as contradictory. According to Akase, the government’s assertion that it spends ₦7.4 billion monthly on debt servicing is inconsistent with its own reported debt figures.
“The government has claimed to spend ₦214.6 billion on debt servicing in 29 months—₦52.5 billion higher than the ₦162.1 billion total debt it declared,” he said, questioning the figures’ credibility.
The statement further noted that as of May 2023, the Ortom administration had secured pending federal approvals, including a ₦41 billion bailout balance, a ₦20 billion CBN facility, and expected refunds from subsidy and SURE-P deductions. It challenged the current government to explain whether those funds have been received and how they were utilised.
Akase accused Governor Alia of mismanaging local government funds, alleging that despite record federal allocations, “not one of the 23 councils has executed a single development project,” unlike under Ortom, when local governments “actively competed in delivering projects.”
He maintained that Ortom left behind “verifiable records” of his administration’s finances and projects and called on the Alia government to publish the official handover documents if it believes otherwise.
Concluding, Akase urged Governor Alia to focus on governance rather than “vilifying his predecessor,” saying:
“Benue people elected him to serve, not to campaign against those who came before him. Chief Ortom has moved on with dignity as a statesman and expects Governor Alia to do better, especially with the resources now available to the state.”