By Amos Aar
PRIOR to the inauguration of Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia into office as the 6th democratically elected governor of Benue State, there were series of disclosures by the immediate past administration of Governor Samuel Ortom that at least N62 billion was denied him (Ortom) and kept in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for his successor to come and clear the backlog of arrears of salaries and pensions.
The above claim by the former governor was spread all over the state, giving the citizenry the hope that it wouldn’t take the Catholic Priest too long after his assumption office on May 29, 2023 to use that huge fund in addition to May and June federal allocations as well as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state to pay salaries and even hit the ground running in addressing a few of the many emergencies that litter the state.
Governor Alia had on June 12, 2023 in his democracy day broadcast informed Benue civil servants to start expecting salary alerts as from June 25, 2023.
Although Alia did not state in his broadcast that he would pay four months salaries at once, news circulated that he promised to pay 4 months “as from the 25th of this month”. This alleged promise to pay four months salaries went viral on social media for over two weeks but Alia did not debunk or disclaim it. It was therefore concluded that he might have said it during one of his exclusive meetings with civil servants.
But at about 12 midnight of June 25, unconfirmed reports emerged on social media that Benue civil servants had been paid one-month’s salary while efforts were being made to pay additional two months. It was not clear when the other two months would be paid and whether the funds were not yet available. But if the funds were adequately available, it was a simple task to multiply how much monthly salary of a civil servant by 3 and pay the money at once.
For the purpose of accountability, therefore, it will be only proper to let Benue people know how much the current wage bill of Benue State is and how much revenue has accrued to the coffers of the state since May 2023.
It is expected that since Governor Alia is still assessing the situation and therefore yet to fully began to operate, especially as it is assumed that he has no distractions for almost a month, in terms spending money, including the traditional press briefing stipend locally called injaa mato (transport fare) at state functions, he should come out and act fast and pay salaries so that he will activate the governance paradigm he promised.
If he however dithers symbolised by the payment of only a month’s salary that is yet to be made to the state’s entire civil servants, he is likely to inadvertently the lethargy that was the trademark of the Ortom leadership in terms of workers welfare. While government administration is a complex in the context of bureaucratic bottlenecks, the Catholic Priest, more than anyone knows that the primary purpose of government is the welfare of citizens, the reason why he was so appealing to Benue constituents who voted for him en mass to defeat a ruling party.
Our Reverend Governor is not a stranger and should therefore perfectly understand that there was severe hunger in Benue State occasioned by several months of unpaid salaries and pension before he took over from Ortom.
He needs not to be reminded that though there had been jubilation with his ascension to power, the hunger and other deadly existential realities are still lurking around, such that the euphoria of his emergence is only going to be short-lived or even transit to deeper agony if it is perceived that he is not better or different from his predecessor.
One important step the governor or his managers ought to have taken, and can still do, is to clear the air on Ortom’s claim that huge funds were not released to the outgone administration by the federal government to clear arrears of salaries and pensions owing to his (Ortom) cat-and-dog relationship with the then administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. The Benue public seem to believe the former governor when he said those funds were kept for Fr. Alia to come and do the needful, and by keeping mute on this claim which initially looked like Ortom’s usual propaganda has been construed to be fact. It is now being assumed, rightly or wrongly, that because Ortom wasn’t paying salaries, he was denied those funds and invariably the revelation raised the hope of Benue workers that Rev. Fr. Alia would put smiles on their faces.
It is equally important that the people are constantly briefed contrary to the prevailing scenario where people majorly depend on the rumour mill, more or less. Given the critical importance of defraying the accumulated salaries and pension, it will serve both the government and the public well if Governor Alia will reveal the state’s current wage bill, and how much that has accrued to the state’s treasury since his assumption of office. This will go a long way to vindicate the governor from the many allegations flying left, right and centre.
