The Governor of Benue State, Rev. Father Hyacinth Alia, must have thought that government is a continuum, but now he knows that in Nigeria, leaving money in the treasury is not a desire most outgoing governors have.
Barely one week in office, the entire thing is becoming clearer to him.
He alleges that the immediate past Governor, Samuel Ortom did not leave any single official car after expiration of his tenure.
Alia, through his spokesman, Tersoo Kula, released a statement on Thursday.
He alleged that the Ortom’s government massively looted and carted away properties from the Government House.
Empty Treasury Inheritance
According to the governor, he inherited an empty treasury and a whooping huge debt profile of ₦187.56 billion accompanied by accumulated months of unpaid salaries and pensions.
Alia was responding to calls by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state that he should reverse his decision that led to the nullification of all last-minute appointments made by his predecessor.
“The PDP looted Government House to a point that the new government under governor Hyacinth Alia, met no single car or truck in the government house.
“The governor’s visits to agencies and parastatals have uncovered the highest level of rot ever witnessed in the history of Benue State.
“The same party that left an empty treasury in the state and ripped off the economic system of the people is now claiming to be standing on high moral grounds.
“They offer untenable and ill-motivated criticisms to undermine the collective wisdom of the Benue populace.”
Unpaid Salaries
Furthermore, the Benue governor regretted that Ortom left the government owing salary arrears of civil servants.
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To Alia, the PDP should apologise to the people of the state.
“The PDP is not ignorant of the fact that all the appointments and recruitments that were carried out by former governor Samuel Ortom at the twilight of his administration were not done in good faith.
“Is it not curious that for more than seven years, Ortom could not employ indigents of the state into the civil service, until a few months before the expiration of his tenure?
“It is even more ironic that the PDP, which is now a crying wolf, left the government house owing salaries of Benue Civil Servants from December 2022 to May 2023.
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“The same PDP administration left salary arrears of five months for state government workers in 2017; 10 months for local government workers in the same year, 2017.
“Under this same PDP government, pensions were last paid in the year 2021.”
Indeed, as things stand, the Governor has his job already cut out for him and he will need to prove that he is a man of integrity.
