Alia, Ortom, Feud over State’s Debt Profile

George Okoh in Makurdi

Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia and his immediate predecessor, Samuel Ortom, have disagreed over the debtprofile of the state.

While Alia has accused Ortom of leaving  over N359 billion in salary arrears for him, Ortom has refuted the claims.

The governor stated in  Okpoga, headquarters of  Okpokwu Local Government Area recently  during a ‘thank you’ tour of  Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency that he inherited the bogus amount.

He alleged that previous administrations in the state lied to the people that the federal government denied them funds to pay salaries.

But Ortom has challenged the claims and accused him of lying.

In a statement by his media aide, Terver Akase, Ortomchallenged Alia to publish the allocations received since his assumption of office.

Ortom, who described the claim as nothing but a tissue of lies, said Alia, by his claim, had created the impression that he did not pay his salary for five years.

He said his successor has been bandying his administration, which shows that the governor was obsessed with his name.

The former governor recalled that the Alia administration had admitted that he (Ortom) left N187.56 billion in debt when he assumed office in 2023 and expressed worries about the new figure the governor dropped during his thank-you tour.

“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.”