THE OBSESSION OF GOV ALIA & HIS CRONIES WITH ORTOM’S NAME
…When will the Governor publish financial records of Benue State under him?
By Tyodoo Livinus
I watched a video in which one Livinus Tsar who goes by the title of “Friend of the Governor” (whatever that means), was meeting with traditional rulers of Jechira extraction in Vandeikya where he claimed that Governor Hyacinth Alia has done what no other governor has ever done in the state.
Tsar also claimed that every month that allocations are to be released to the state from the federation’s account, a large portion is deducted to pay the debt of N350 billion which he said was owed by the government of Chief Samuel Ortom. This is a fat lie! Tsar’s allegation goes to show the deceit that is loaded in the government of Alia and his cronies.
I challenge the government of Alia to publicly prove that the state has a debt of N350 billion and allocations are deducted to repay the debt.
The state government should also publish its financial records since May 29, 2023. Tell Benue people how much has come in as federal allocations for the state and the 23 local governments since May 29, 2023. Tell Benue people what the wage bill of state is currently. Also tell the people what is being generated monthly as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). These records are supposed to be published as a matter of the right of the people to know the amount of resources the state has as required by the tenets of transparency and accountability.
Governor Alia with his appointees and his associates have been trying desperately to sell the false narrative that Governor Ortom owed N350 billion without providing any proof to support their claims.
It is on record that Governor Samuel Ortom inherited a huge wage and pensions burden from the government before his and immediately began to clear the backlog of salaries, pensions and gratuities. Remember that during Ortom’s time, Nigeria went into two recessions in addition to COVID-19. Those economic downturns drastically reduced the federal allocations to near zero. Yet, Governor Ortom managed to pay salaries nonstop for the most part of his two terms. Also remember that Ortom implemented the N18,000 minimum wage for Benue teachers.
By the time Ortom was leaving office, he had reduced the pensions burden the previous administration handed to him from N72 billion to N30 billion – meaning that he was able to pay N42 billion of pensions and gratuities. Also remember that it was Governor Ortom who domesticated the PENCOM law (Contributory Pension Scheme) in the state and contributed over N8 billion to take Benue closer to the required threshold to enable the state access funds to clear the pension arrears. Alia is benefiting from that visionary initiative of Ortom now.
As I said earlier, Governor Ortom inherited 7 months salary arrears from Suswam and out of the 96 months in the eight years of his two terms, he paid 91 months – meaning that he only left 5 months unpaid. That’s a governor who served the state at the most difficult period in the history of the state.
In his handover notes to Alia on May 28, 2023, Governor Ortom clearly stated that though the debt situation of the Benue State Government before he left office stood at N187.56 billion, his administration had earlier taken proactive steps to negotiate and ensure significant debt reliefs leading to Debt Swap Between Benue State and Federal Government, as facilitated by the Nigerian Governors Forum. The then Governor said the Debt Swap for State and Local Government Councils in the state stood at N71.6 billion at the time he was leaving office.
It is obvious that the Alia administration is yet to study the handover notes Governor Ortom presented to them. We encourage the present administration to take time and go through the notes to enable them have a good understanding of the issues they love to talk about.
Now to the time of the present Governor, Hyacinth Alia. He has come at a very fortunate time when the removal of subsidy on petroleum products by President Bola Tinubu has made funds abundantly available in excess to states at a level of four times higher than the previous administration.
Today in Nigeria, following the removal of fuel subsidy and the abundance of resources available to state and local governments, Benue is the only state still dragging its feet on the issue of salary and pension arrears. All other states have since cleared the arrears and are consistently paying salaries and pensions. Before the removal of fuel subsidy, 28 states could not pay salaries and pensions.
Ortom’s government was getting an average of N3.5 billion a month while Alia is receiving an average of N15 billion a month! This is why no state is owing salaries and pensions in Nigeria today! The issue of salaries and is no longer an issue. Other governors are displaying state-of-the-art projects, not counting the payment of salaries as an achievement as the Benue government and its apologists are doing.
It is also 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 and he pursued for the state.
The Alia administration has received all those funds. What they owe the people now is explanation on how they have managed the funds.
*Tyodoo, a concerned citizen, writes from Makurdi.
