ORTOM DENIES HANDING OVER N359BN SALARY ARREARS
29th June, 2024
The immediate past Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom has denied handing over N359 billion salary arrears to his successor, Governor Hyacinth Alia.
Governor Alia was said to have made the allegation in Okpoga, the headquarters of Okpokwu local government area of the state.
A statement by the media aide to the former Governor, Terver Akase described Governor Alia’s claim that he inherited N359 billion in salary arrears as an indication that the administration of Ortom did not pay salaries for five years (60 months) and wondered how possible was that.
He noted that the narrative was not only ridiculously fictitious but was also a deliberate flimflam to mislead the people.
According to the statement, the Alia led administration appears to be obsessed with the name Samuel Ortom, as they miss no opportunity to throw darts at the immediate past governor branding him with all manner of negative hues.
“It is puzzling that Chief Ortom left office more than a year ago but his successor and his team can’t get off his back. This is despite the reluctance of the former governor to engage in a media war with his successor.
Ortom maintained, the statement continued that Alia and his men seem to forget that the campaign period was over and they were in government to serve.
“The people who voted for His Excellency Governor Alia won’t ask for a scorecard titled ‘Samuel Ortom’ at the end of the day.”
Ortom informed that he also inherited debts in 2015, but he went on to pay seven months arrears and also implemented a 27% increase in teachers’ salaries, adding that 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 led 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.
“It is imperative to mention that Governor Ortom ran a transparent government which made Labour leaders part of the joint account committee where they knew first hand what the state was receiving as allocations and how the funds were spent.
“If the Alia administration has a hidden motive which is making it announce inflated and non-existent figures regarding the state resources, it is better that the government makes its intentions known rather than using the name of Ortom as it is currently doing.
He also disclosed that the Alia led 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.
He insisted that what the present government is saying about the state debt now is contradictory and politically motivated.
“Governor Alia and his team are quick to gleefully talk about finances as they affect the previous administration, but quickly recoil into silence whenever a question is put to them on how they are managing resources of the state. There has been zero accountability since Governor Alia took over on May 29, 2023”.
He noted that since May 2023 when President Tinubu announced subsidy removal and the monthly federal allocation has been three more than what the previous administration received and challenged the Alia’s administration to publish her monthly allocation as well as the Internally Generated Revenue saying the government has zero accountability.
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