The Benue State Government has accused former Governor Samuel Ortom of leaving the state in a severely weakened condition after his eight years in office.
The allegation was made on Wednesday by Tersoo Kula, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Hyacinth Alia, while responding to claims by the former governor over vehicles allegedly seized from him by the state government.
Ortom had alleged that the Alia administration confiscated vehicles allocated to him by the Benue State Executive Council at the end of his tenure in 2023.
The former governor also recalled taking the state government to court over the matter and securing a favourable judgment.
However, Kula offered a different account of the dispute, claiming that the vehicles were discovered concealed at a mechanic workshop following intelligence provided by security agencies.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show, the governor’s spokesman said the vehicles were initially kept at the workshop, whose owner subsequently instituted legal proceedings against the state government.
“These cars were hidden in a mechanic workshop somewhere and they claimed they don’t belong to Ortom himself. The owner of that workshop took the Benue State Government to court because of this,” Kula said.
According to him, the explanation that the vehicles were legitimately allocated by the state Executive Council raised questions about the circumstances surrounding their possession.
He said the Executive Council that allegedly approved the allocation was chaired by Ortom during his tenure, with commissioners appointed by the former governor.
Kula said the controversy over the vehicles had provided an opportunity to examine the manner in which the state was administered under Ortom.
READ ALSO:Benue Government Accuses Peter Obi Of Breaching Visit Protocol
“But then, it has opened a vista to understand what Ortom entrenched in Benue State as the governor for eight years,” he said.
The governor’s spokesman went further, accusing the former administration of leaving the state in a difficult financial and administrative position.
“This state was practically run aground by Ortom,” Kula said.
He also referenced Ortom’s criticism that the current administration was concentrating development in Makurdi, the state capital, suggesting that the former governor’s own record should also be examined in the context of the condition in which he left the state.
Kula maintained that the vehicles were not arbitrarily seized by the state government, insisting that their discovery followed information obtained by security agencies.
He said security personnel subsequently searched the workshop and found the vehicles.
“The owner of the mechanic workshop was the person who first of all took the government to court. In the first instance, these cars were hidden in a workshop, but it was intelligence from security agencies that some cars were hidden somewhere, and they had to invade the workshop and discovered these cars,” he said.
The latest exchange adds to the continuing political tension between the administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia and officials and supporters of the previous government.
The dispute over the vehicles has also revived broader disagreements over the legacy of Ortom’s administration and the direction of governance under his successor.
While Ortom maintains that the vehicles were legitimately allocated to him by the state Executive Council and has pointed to a court victory in the matter, the Alia administration has continued to question the circumstances surrounding their discovery and possession.
The competing claims are likely to fuel further political debate in Benue as the two camps continue to defend their records and challenge each other’s accounts of events.