Benue: Ortom and Alia Clash Over N100bn Loan -

Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, and his predecessor, Samuel Ortom, on Sunday exchanged words over the ₦100 billion loan recently approved by the State House of Assembly.

The House, during an emergency plenary last Friday, approved the governor’s request to obtain a ₦100 billion loan to finance infrastructural projects across the state.

According to the governor, the loan will be used to fund projects including the renovation and equipping of the 23 general hospitals in the state, the renovation and construction of science schools statewide, and the completion of ongoing roads, bridges, drainage, and electricity projects.

Other components include the construction of skills acquisition centres, the building and equipping of smart schools in all federal constituencies, as well as the construction and equipping of the Benue State University of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Ihugh, among others.

The State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, through its Publicity Secretary, Tim Nyor, on Friday condemned the House for approving the loan, claiming that the Alia administration had already received substantial revenue from federal allocations in the past two years.

However, Alia, through his media aide, Kula Tersoo, fired back at the PDP, accusing Ortom’s administration of “democratising poverty” by failing to pay salaries and pensions.

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Alia described Ortom’s eight years in office as a “colossal failure” that left the state deeply indebted and underdeveloped.

In a swift response, Ortom, through a statement by his media aide, Terver Akase, accused Alia of playing the ostrich instead of addressing the legitimate concerns raised by the opposition.

Ortom said that despite a more than 500 per cent increase in federal allocations to Benue, Alia had failed to make meaningful progress, choosing instead to compare himself with his predecessor.

He explained that by the time he left office, there were pending approvals awaiting disbursement from the Federal Government, including the balance of the ₦41 billion bailout fund and a ₦20 billion Central Bank of Nigeria facility.

According to Ortom, the state was also expecting refunds amounting to several billion naira for subsidy withdrawals and SURE-P funds.