Ortom to Sue Akume over Allegation of N500bn Fraud

Accuses ex-gov of plotting with Miyeti Allah to attack state

George Okoh

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has hinted at the possibility of suing the Minister for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume over accusations of fraud labelled against him.

The governor, who chided Akume, revealed that he might sue Akume to seek redress over the allegation while stating that his records on the finances of the state were open and clean.

At a press conference yesterday at the Government House, Makurdi, Ortom too accused Akume of plans to incite the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the state,but expressed confidence the move would fail.

“He attempted to impeach me in the past but it didn’t work, and now, he wants Buhari to declare a state of emergency on Benue. That too will fail,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has defended theOrtom-led administration, saying the government did not hate President Muhammad Buhari as being insinuated in some quarters.

Chairman of PDP in the state, Sir John Ngbede, who stated this during a press conference at the party secretariat in Makurdi, said the govermor has tremendous respect for the presidentas a person. Ngbede was reacting to the statement credited to Akume, who accused the governor of disrespecting the president.

The chairman noted that what the governor did was not disrespecting but to ensure that the president live up to expectations by protecting the lives and property of Nigerians.

“The govermor, Samuel Ortom, has tremendous respect but this respect cannot exempt the President from discharging his constitutional responsibilities nor the Governor from respectfully calling on him to live up to the duties of his office.

“When sick and hospitalised in 2017, the Benue State Government in conjunction with the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, organised a three-Day Prayer and Fasting session from 12th-14th May, 2017 for the recovery of President Buhari.

“Governor Ortom was also part of a six-man delegation of governors that visited the President on his hospital bed in London. On his return, the governor called on all Nigerians to pray for the President, stating that, ‘when the President is sick, the whole country is sick’.”

On corruption, the PDP in the state described it as ‘unsubstantiated” saying the allegation that Ortom allocated N800 million monthly to himself as security votes was a product of a continuous inebriated mind and not true.

“We challenge Senator Akume to prove this allegation. Even with the dire financial condition of the state, the state government funds the activities all of the security outfits in the state, including Operation Whirl Stroke, the Civil Defence, the Police, the State Security Services.”