Ortom ‘ll Not Leave Benue After Handover – State Govt

ortom

Benue State Government has clarified that Governor Samuel Ortom would not leave the state after handing over power to the Governor-elect, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia.

Samuel Ortom

The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Micheal Inalegwu who made the disclosure Tuesday while briefing newsmen at the end of the State Executive Council meeting said the Governor would remain in the state for about five months after exiting office in order to provide clarification on any issue that would require his attention.

According to the Commissioner, the Governor would perform the official handover to the incoming administration on Sunday, May 28 to create room for a brief ceremony on May 29 “and after the handing over ceremony Governor Ortom will not leave Benue for at least five months,” he said.

He disclosed that the meeting also resolved to name a 9.7km road constructed in Makurdi by the administration after late Major Gideon Orkar who staged a failed coup against the government of General Ibrahim Babangida on April 22, 1990.

He said “we are honouring him because he was a man who saw tomorrow. All the things we are witnessing today was foretold by the late Gideon Orkar. So we will honour him with that 9.7km road,” he said.

Mr. Inalegwu who lamented the inability of the Samuel Ortom-led administration to access the over N62billion to pay outstanding salaries, pensions and embark on infrastructural development which other others states benefitted from, blamed it on the politicisation of funds by the opposition.

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He said “this government was supposed to get N42 billion for the payment of outstanding salaries and pensions while another N20 billion for infrastructural development but it was denied us after it was approved. The opposition politicised it and the money was not released to us, but other states got theirs. The money is there in the Central Bank, the incoming government will access it to pay outstanding salaries and pensions.

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The Commissioner also disclosed that the outgoing government had contributed over N6 billion to the PenCom Contributory Pension Fund to help the incoming government pay pensioners assuring that the outgoing government would do everything to ensure that the coming administration took off on a good footing.

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Photo Credit: Getty

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