By Amos Aar
THE IMMEDIATE past governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has challenged his successor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, to publish financial records to prove that he inherited N359 billion salary arrears from his administration as he (Alia) had claimed recently.
According to Ortom, his administration left a N187 billion debt which he announced had declared while handing over to the incumbent administration on May 28, 2023.
National Record had reported Governor Alia’s claims on June 24, 2024 during his thank-you-tour at Okpoga, the headquarters of Okpokwu LGA that his administration inherited N359 billion salary arrears from the Ortom administration.
Countering Alia’s claim, Ortom, through his media aide and former chief press secretary, Terver Akase, on Wednesday, said the current administration was “bandying fake figures to discredit Ortom”.
Akase pointed out that his principal did not owe salaries up to 60 months as claimed by Alia. He attributed the inability of the past administration to perform maximally to paucity of funds occasioned by two recessions, COVID-19 pandemic and the denial of series of funds in billions of naira to Ortom by the then federal government.
Ortom claims that Governor Alia has upon assumption of office accessed those withheld funds but has hidden the fact from Benue people.
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He also noted that the federal allocation to Benue under Governor Alia has increased three times higher than what his (Ortom) government received as federal allocation.
Ortom also accused Governor Alia of singlehandedly controlling Benue State’s treasury without allowing any other citizen to know what is there, describing the practive as unacceptable in a democratic setting.
“Going by Governor Alia’s claim that he inherited N359 billion in salary arrears, the unfounded impression created is that the past administration of Governor Ortom did not pay salaries for five years (60 months)! How possible is this? The narrative is not only ridiculously fictitious but is also a deliberate flimflam to mislead the people.
“Governor Ortom also inherited debts in 2015, but he went on to pay seven months arrears and also implemented a 27% increase in teachers’ salaries. He implemented N18,000 minimum wage for teachers as well, the same way he later implemented the N30,000 minimum wage for workers. All these were achieved by the Ortom administration despite the fact that Nigeria went into recession on two occasions, not forgetting the COVID-19 pandemic that adversely affected the economy of the country and states”.
National Record could recall that Governor Alia had declined to make any comment when he received handover notes from the Ortom government on May 28, 2023 at the old banquet hall of Government House, Makurdi, stating that he would study the report before making any official response.
Ortom noted in the statement by his media aide that Governor Alia has already confirmed the N187 billion salary arrears in a statement by his chief press secretary, Tersoo Kula.
“Curiously, the same government told the people via a statement by Governor Alia’s Chief Press Secretary in June last year that Governor Ortom handed N187.56 billion to them as debt, which was the same amount the former Governor mentioned while presenting handover notes to his successor on May 28, 2023, to which the former Governor gave a detailed presentation in his handover notes on the efforts his administration had made to reduce the debt to the barest. What the present government is saying about the state debt now is contradictory and politically motivated,” Akase said.
He continued: “The present administration has not told Benue people that since May 2023 when President Tinubu approved the removal of fuel subsidy, Benue, like other states, has been receiving federal allocations three times higher than what the previous government received.
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“We challenge the State Government under Governor Alia to publish the allocations they have received since May 2023 and how the funds are being expended. We equally challenge the Alia government to tell the people what the wage bill of the state is, after the Governor claimed that they removed thousands of “ghost workers” from the government’s payroll. The Alia administration should also publish what the Internally Generated Revenue, IGR of the state has been since May 2023 to date.
“It is on record that before he left office, Governor Ortom took proactive steps to negotiate and ensure significant debt reduction and relief for the state. Owing to Governor Ortom’s passion and commitment in protecting his people against herdsmen attacks and injustice by the previous Federal Government, Benue State under him was denied several entitlements which he pursued for the state including funds from bonds, Stamp Duty, SURE-P, Signature Bonus, among other funds that the state legitimately deserved to benefit.
“The Alia administration has received those funds. What they owe the people now is explanation on how they have managed the funds. Their explanation has to include what has been done with Benue’s share of the N50 billion which President Bola Tinubu graciously released to five northern states affected by insecurity.
“If Governor Alia wants the people to believe his narrative, his government should publish the financial records and prove that it inherited N359 billion as salary arrears from the Ortom administration”, Akase’s statement read in parts.
However, in his defense, Governor Alia, through his Technical Adviser on Media, Publicity and Strategic Communications, Mr Solomon Iorpev, said the debts inherited from Ortom were beyond the arrears of salaries, maintaining that N187 billion debt was still outstanding. He went ahead to give a breakdown of the total debt.
“I want to agree with you that His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, quoted a figure of N359 billion in Okpoga, the headquarters of Okpokwu LG area of Benue State, I was there. What he said was absolutely correct and you have not denied it either. Let me tell you how. Your focus here is on salary arrears. True? That being the case, I want to assure you that nobody tempered with the Salary arrears, it is still at the 187.56 billion as your quote of the chief press secretary indicates. Salary arrears!
“But what his Excellency, Gov Alia was referring to was far more than arrears. He was referring to the: a. arrears of the state civil servants for over 6 months; b. salaries of LG workers for 11monts; c. primary school teachers for 11 months; d. non-payment of pensions of over 72 months (which is over 3 years); e. Non payment of gratuities for uncountable years.
“Haba, Terver Akase my dear brother, when you add all of these together is it not over N359 billion as my principal stated?
“So, you see my dear brother, what His Excellency, Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia said was correct. And I want to assure you that His Excellency does not have intentions of defrauding the state and so he does not need to lie about figures, neither does he have reason to announce inflated and non existent figures regarding state resources. I recall the slogan of the previous administration was “paucity of funds”. That’s not the case with Alia’s Administration,” Iorpev stated.
On the demand for transparency and accountability, Iorpev said it was needless for Alia to publish allocations since May, 2023 because his achievements justify the monies accrued to the state coffers under his watch. He added however that the Federation Allocation and Account Committee (FAAC) published whatever is shared amongst the states on in the media.
He therefore told Akase that whatever information he needs is already available in the public domain.
“The biggest joy of every appointee in Alia’s administration is they have a boss that has nothing to hide. I don’t know what informed your conclusion that we recoil into silence whenever a question is put to us on how our government is managing resources of the state. Isn’t it obvious how the funds are being managed? Road projects, other infrastructure development, employment (500 at Teaching Hospital. Consistent payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities. And I can assure you that if Gov. Alia wasn’t held back by your boss (with huge debts, arrears and infrastructure deficits), we would have been light years ahead.
“How can one see all of these and still claim there has been Zero accountability since 2023? Maybe you need to get in touch with the ordinary man on the street to tell you how well funds are being managed in the state. It’s obvious to everyone. You said this administration has not told Benue people what it is receiving, but you said it’s 3 times what the previous administration received. Are you not a Benue citizen? How did you know your own? Who told you? Besides my dear brother, these informations [sic] are in public domain.
“I remember that FAAC announces whatever is shared amongst the states on Radio and Television, including Radio Nigeria where both of us served this country. So, whatever information you need is already available in the public domain. So, we don’t need to accept any challenge from you nor your boss. And I wonder why you are giving your boss credit for taking steps to ease off the debts burden when he was the initiator of Most of these debts.
“5. I have not known you for fake news but I’m worried about Your unverifiable statement that the federal government released 50 billion to Northern states with insecurity. I did all the researches I could, asked all the questions I knew how to, reached out to both state and federal. I can’t find a document supporting your claim. Please I’ll need you to help me with these documents. Until then, there is no 50billion released to anyone, but even if there was, there is enough evidence of judicious use of funds in the state”, Iorpev insisted.
