N359bn inherited debit: Prove your claims, Ortom tells Alia
By Titus Atondu, Makurdi
Chief Samuel Ortom, former Governor of Benue State, has called on his successor, Governor of Benue State, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia to publicly prove his claim that he inherited a debt profile of N359billion.
In a press statement signed by Terver Akase, his Media Aide, the former Governor, explained that the present government of Benue State is selling a narrative to unsuspecting people of the State that they inherited N359 billion as debt from the previous government led by Chief Ortom, which according to him the narrative is not only false but is also a deliberate stratagem to snooker the people.
According to Akase in the Statement on Tuesday a copy of which made available to Nigerian NewsDirect, as someone who attended meetings of the Benue State Executive Council in eight years as an aide to the immediate past Governor, and also accompanied him to the Banquet Hall of Benue Peoples House on May 28, 2023 where he handed over to his successor, Governor Hyacinth Alia, he is equipped with the knowledge of the actions and programmes of his principal’s government enough to clarify issues when some mischief is being leveled against him and his administration.
He further revealed that the same government told the people via a statement by Governor Alia’s Chief Press Secretary in June this year that Governor Ortom handed N187.56 billion to them as debt, which was the same amount the former Governor mentioned while presenting handover notes to his successor and added that what the present government is saying about the State’s debts now contradicts their previous statement.
Akaase maintained that Ortom was explicit in his handover speech that though the debt situation of the State Government at the time of his exit from office might appear to be on the high side (N187.56 billion), his administration had taken proactive steps to negotiate and ensure significant debt reduction/reliefs leading to Debt Swap Between Benue State and Federal Government as facilitated by the Nigerian Governors Forum. Total Debt Swap for State and Local Government Councils stood at N71.6billion.
The media Aide to the former Governor also revealed that the inflows Benue State was expecting at the time Governor Ortom was leaving office were: (a) Backlog of accumulated Stamp Duties – N48billion, (b) Refund from Debt Swap with Federal Government – N22.95 billion. Total = N70.95 billion and when the negotiated debt swap and the expected inflows are discounted, the State was set to attain a significant debt reduction, bringing down its debt profile to N45.2 billion.
“It should also be noted that owing to the efforts of the Ortom administration, Benue State by May 29, 2023, had outstanding approvals awaiting disbursement from the Federal Government including the balance of Bailout – N41 billion and a N20 billion Central Bank of Nigeria facility. At the same time, the Benue State government was expecting N9 billion as refund on withdrawals for subsidy and SURE-P. The Alia administration is yet to tell the people if it has already received the N9 billion SURE-P funds.
“In the Ortom administration’s commitment to finding a lasting solution to the problem of pensions, the State Government domesticated the Federal Government reforms in pension administration through the Benue State Pension Law, 2019 which introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme.
“Our administration met most of the requirements for full implementation status of the Contributory Pension Scheme. At the time Governor Ortom was rounding off his stewardship, over N8 billion had already been raised under the Scheme and Benue State was on the threshold of meeting the conditions for benefitting from the Contributory Pension Scheme including access to long-term loans and bonds for development projects or defraying existing pension liabilities,” Akase stressed.
