Ortom, Alia Trade Words Over Benue’s ₦100bn Loan
Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, and his predecessor, Samuel Ortom, on Sunday exchanged words over the ₦100 billion loan recently approved by the State House of Assembly.
The House, during an emergency plenary last Friday, approved the governor’s request to obtain a ₦100 billion loan to finance infrastructural projects across the state.
According to the governor, the loan will be used to fund projects including the renovation and equipping of the 23 general hospitals in the state, the renovation and construction of science schools statewide, and the completion of ongoing roads, bridges, drainage, and electricity projects.
Other components include the construction of skills acquisition centres, the building and equipping of smart schools in all federal constituencies, as well as the construction and equipping of the Benue State University of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Ihugh, among others.
The State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, through its Publicity Secretary, Tim Nyor, on Friday condemned the House for approving the loan, claiming that the Alia administration had already received substantial revenue from federal allocations in the past two years.
However, Alia, through his media aide, Kula Tersoo, fired back at the PDP, accusing Ortom’s administration of “democratising poverty” by failing to pay salaries and pensions.
Alia described Ortom’s eight years in office as a “colossal failure” that left the state deeply indebted and underdeveloped.
“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 a statement by his media aide, Terver Akase, accused Alia of playing the ostrich instead of addressing the legitimate concerns raised by the opposition.
Ortom said that despite a more than 500 per cent increase in federal allocations to Benue, Alia had failed to make meaningful progress, choosing instead to compare himself with his predecessor.
He explained that by the time he left office, there were pending approvals awaiting disbursement from the Federal Government, including the balance of the ₦41 billion bailout fund and a ₦20 billion Central Bank of Nigeria facility.
According to Ortom, the state was also expecting refunds amounting to several billion naira for subsidy withdrawals and SURE-P funds.
He further alleged that Alia had yet to inform Benue residents whether his administration had received the SURE-P funds or what they had been used for.
The former governor criticised Alia for failing to explain the award of a ₦68.3 billion contract for the rehabilitation of a 13-kilometre road from Wurukum Roundabout to the Air Force Base in Makurdi.
“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.
Ortom also challenged Alia to disclose how the huge revenues that had accrued to the state since May 29, 2023, had been utilised.
“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.