The immediate past governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has called on his successor, Governor Hyacinth Alia, to allow the 23 local government chairmen take control of their resources.
According to the former governor, doing so will enable the chairmen to effectively mobilise security in their domains and also provide development for their people.
Ortom gave the advice to his successor on Sunday through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Terver Akase, while responding to an allegation made against his administration by Governor Alia.
Alia, through his media aide, Kula Tersoo, was reacting to an interview granted by the member of House of Representatives from Makurdi/Guma Federal Constituency, Dickson Tarkighir, which aired over the weekend and made reference to Ortom’s administration.
Alia’s aide had said, “under Ortom’s watch, Benue State recorded the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in its history, with over 4 million people displaced from their ancestral homes. This figure underscores the failure of reactive rhetoric without strategic support for security architecture.”
Ortom, in a statement made by his aide on Sunday, reminded Governor Alia that allocations to the local governments—similar to those of the state government—have increased by 400% since fuel subsidy was removed by the President in 2023 and the Supreme Court gave a landmark judgment granting full financial autonomy to local governments.
He advised the governor to obey the Supreme Court judgment and let the councils run their affairs, saying, “the 23 local governments have been lamenting; the Benue State House of Assembly has also passed resolutions repeatedly urging Governor Alia to allow local governments control their resources, but sadly, all such pleas and interventions have fallen on deaf ears.”
He also urged the governor to stop playing games and adopt the security roadmap that President Bola Tinubu personally crafted for him, stating that the same data of 1.5 million IDPs he handed over to Governor Alia in 2023 remains the figure still in use.
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He added, “Trying to minimize the magnitude of the attacks by concealing casualty figures, the number of displaced persons, and making the attacks appear as mere communal clashes or skirmishes will not help solve the problem.
“Since the killing of innocent Benue people by armed herders intensified under Alia, the governor has peddled varying narratives regarding the attacks. At one point, he says those on a killing spree in the state are foreigners and not Nigerians. At another instance, he claims the killings are reprisals because according to him, Benue people rustled Fulani cows and were selling in wheelbarrows.
“In yet another case, the governor blames those he brands as ‘Abuja politicians’ as sponsors of the killings. His latest accusation was against clergymen in the state, whom he tagged as ‘religious bandits.’ This clearly indicates that the governor either has no clue about what the security situation is or is deliberately trying to mislead the public.
“I advice Governor Alia to adopt the security roadmap that President Bola Tinubu personally crafted for him when the President visited the state. It has been five days since the President visited and made very useful recommendations on addressing insecurity in the state, but the governor has apparently yet to begin implementing any of the recommendations.”
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