‘Your Attacks On Me Are A Cover-Up’, Ortom Tells Alia

Former Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, has accused his successor, Governor Hyacinth Alia, of using personal attacks against him as a diversionary tactic to cover up alleged financial mismanagement and controversies surrounding a recently approved ₦100 billion loan.

In a statement issued on Saturday by his Media Adviser, Terver Akase, Ortom described the Alia administration’s comments about him as “baseless and diversionary,” claiming they were meant to distract the public from growing scrutiny over the government’s handling of state funds.

Akase alleged that instead of addressing legitimate concerns raised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) about the loan and the state’s financial status, the incumbent governor has “resorted to attacking Ortom personally.”

“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,” Akase said.

He accused the governor of exhibiting “growing intolerance for accountability” and “an obsession with dragging Ortom’s name into every issue, no matter how unrelated.”

The statement further questioned how the Alia-led government has managed the huge revenues accruing to the state since May 2023, citing alleged cases of contract awards without due process or budgetary provisions.

According to Akase, examples included the ₦68.3 billion road project from Wurukum Roundabout to the Air Force Base in Makurdi and another ₦73 billion project purportedly leading to the governor’s hometown in Vandeikya Local Government Area.

He accused the Alia administration of maintaining “secrecy around state finances,” despite increased federal allocationsfollowing the removal of fuel subsidy.

Akase also dismissed the government’s claims on the state’s debt profile, describing them as contradictory.

“The government has claimed to spend ₦214.6 billion on debt servicing in 29 months—₦52.5 billion higher than the ₦162.1 billion total debt it declared,” he said, questioning the figures’ credibility.

The statement added that as of May 2023, the Ortom administration had secured pending federal approvals, including a ₦41 billion bailout balance, a ₦20 billion CBN facility, and expected refunds from subsidy and SURE-P deductions. Akase challenged the current government to clarify whether those funds had been received and how they were utilised.

He further accused the administration of mismanaging local government funds, alleging that despite record allocations, “not one of the 23 councils has executed a single development project,” unlike under Ortom, when “local governments actively competed in delivering projects.”

Akase maintained that Ortom left behind “verifiable records” of his administration’s finances and projects, urging Governor Alia to publish the official handover documents if he believed otherwise.

“Benue people elected him to serve, not to campaign against those who came before him,” Akase said.

“Chief Ortom has moved on with dignity as a statesman and expects Governor Alia to do better, especially with the resources now available to the state.”