Benue State Governor, Rev. Father Hyacinth Alia, expressed his dismay on Thursday over the alleged extensive looting of the government house in Makurdi by the previous administration led by Chief Samuel Ortom. He revealed that upon assuming office, he discovered that not a single official car or truck was available for use as they had all been taken away.
Furthermore, Governor Alia disclosed that he inherited an empty treasury and a staggering debt profile of N187.56 billion, accompanied by months of unpaid salaries and entitlements for civil servants and pensioners in the state.
In response to the calls by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to reverse his decision of nullifying last-minute appointments made by his predecessor, Governor Alia urged the party to seek forgiveness from the people of the state. He advised them to stop engaging in political grandstanding, as their actions had inflicted immense suffering and poverty on the people.
Governor Alia expressed regret that Ortom’s administration had left the government with six months of unpaid salaries for civil servants (from December 2022 to May 2023), five months of arrears for state government workers in 2017, and ten months of arrears for local government workers in the same year. He also noted that pensioners had not received their payments since 2021.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Tersoo Kula, Governor Alia stated that his decision to invalidate all last-minute appointments made by the former governor was final and irreversible.
“The PDP is well aware that all the appointments and recruitments carried out by former governor Samuel Ortom towards the end of his administration were not done in good faith,” he said.
Governor Alia criticized the irony of the PDP, which had left the government owing salaries to Benue civil servants, now raising objections to his actions. He highlighted the party’s failure to pay salaries and arrears during their own tenure, as well as the lack of pensions since 2021.
He revealed the extent of the looting in the government house, emphasizing that the new administration had found no vehicles left behind. The governor’s visits to various agencies and parastatals had exposed the unprecedented level of decay and rot in the history of Benue State.
Governor Alia called on the PDP to apologize to the people of the state, seek forgiveness, and cease their attempts to mock the severely deprived residents.
He reassured the people that they need not be concerned about the actions he has taken so far, as his goal is to cleanse the corrupt system created by the previous administration in the state.
