MAKURDI — Immediate past Governor of Benue State, Chief Samuel Ortom, has rejected allegations that his administration left about N139.8 billion unaccounted for, describing the report of the Benue State Income and Expenditure Commission of Inquiry as a politically motivated witch-hunt aimed at tarnishing his image.
Ortom, who reacted to the report released on Friday, insisted that the probe process was designed from the outset to indict his administration, alleging that the Hyacinth Alia-led government had turned governance into a campaign against its predecessor.
In a statement issued by his Media Assistant, Zege Paul Terhide, and made available to journalists in Makurdi at the weekend, the former governor questioned the timing of the report, noting that legal battles over the probe panels are still pending before the courts.
According to him, the matter is currently before the Court of Appeal, with hearing fixed for June 29, 2026, while the Benue State Government has also approached the Supreme Court to challenge an earlier Appeal Court ruling that nullified the constitution of the probe panels.
Ortom accused the state government of undermining the judicial process by proceeding with the inquiry despite ongoing court cases.
“It is astonishing that a government which voluntarily submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the courts would, in the same breath, proceed as though those judicial processes do not exist. This conduct betrays a disturbing lack of confidence in the judiciary and amounts to executive rascality of the highest order,” he said.
The former governor dismissed the presentation of the report as a “media spectacle” designed to achieve through propaganda what could not be achieved through due process.
“What the people of Benue witnessed was not an exercise in accountability. It was the culmination of a carefully scripted political witch-hunt designed from the outset to indict the government of Chief Samuel Ortom at all costs,” he stated.
He further alleged that after dissolving the original probe panels, the Alia administration simply reconstituted another body under a different name to continue the same agenda.
According to Ortom, even the current Commission was served notices regarding pending legal proceedings challenging the legitimacy of its activities.
The former governor argued that the timing of the report was suspicious, claiming it was an attempt to divert public attention from challenges facing the state.
“After three years in office, Governor Alia’s administration has little to showcase in terms of tangible achievements. Faced with mounting concerns over insecurity, the plight of internally displaced persons, industrial disputes in the education sector and questions surrounding the management of huge financial resources accruing to the state, the government has resorted to making the Ortom administration the centrepiece of its governance agenda,” he said.
Ortom also challenged the Alia administration to account for what he described as over N1.3 trillion that has accrued to Benue State since May 29, 2023.
“Rather than weaponising probes against the previous government, the Alia administration should explain how it has managed the over N1.3 trillion that has accrued to it in the last three years. Accountability begins with explaining your own record, not attacking others,” he said.
He lamented what he described as persistent media attacks against him by the current administration, alleging that hardly a week passes without fresh allegations being levelled against his government.
“The unfortunate reality is that Governor Alia has become more interested in prosecuting media battles against his predecessor than in addressing the serious challenges confronting Benue State,” Ortom said.
He maintained that accountability and justice cannot emerge from a process whose outcome, according to him, had been predetermined long before the first witness was invited.
“Accountability cannot be achieved through predetermined conclusions. Justice cannot emerge from a process whose outcome was written long before the first witness was called,” he added.
