0
MAKURDI: President, Alliance for Truth and Justice (ATJ), Aloysius Gbakaan, has stated that Governor Hyacinth Alia’s renewed campaign against his predecessor, Chief Samuel Ortom, over the alleged missing N139.8 billion is no longer about accountability.
While he stated that the episode is allegedly about politics and vendetta, he added that specifically, it is about finding a scapegoat after three “disappointing years in office.”
According to him, “After carefully examining the facts surrounding this controversy, we have reached one unavoidable conclusion: Chief Samuel Ortom is right. The Alia administration is persecuting Ortom because it has failed to convince Benue people with its own record.
“Three years into an administration is not the time to keep blaming the past. It is the time to defend your own performance. That is where the Alia government has a problem.
“The people of Benue want answers about insecurity. They want answers about thousands of internally displaced persons who are still unable to return home.
“They want answers about agriculture. They want answers about roads. They want answers about healthcare and education.
“Instead, the government wants Benue state to spend every day discussing Ortom. That is not governance. It is diversion”, he stressed.
Gbakaan, further stated that even more disturbing is the manner in which the alleged N139.8 billion has been pursued, adding that Ortom has explained time without number that the investigative panels are subjects of litigation.
“Equally significant is Ortom’s claim that throughout his eight years in office, government accounts were audited annually, submitted to the Benue State House of Assembly as required by law, approved and published in national newspapers.
“This is not a casual defence. It is a factual claim that can be verified. If those audited accounts are false, let the government prove it in a competent court. If they are genuine, then the endless propaganda collapses under its own weight.”
“What is becoming increasingly obvious is that the Alia administration is more comfortable investigating yesterday than governing today. No administration can campaign against its predecessor forever.
“Governor Alia has reportedly received over one trillion naira from the Federation Account in just three years, in addition to internally generated revenue and other inflows. The obvious question therefore is: What has Benue received in return?”, he queried.
However, he insisted that this is the question that should dominate public discourse, noting however that, it should not be “endless accusations against a government that left office three years ago.
“Chief Ortom was therefore right when he said the allegations are designed to divert public attention from the failures of the present administration, adding that “Nothing supports that argument more than the timing.
“As the next election approaches, instead of presenting a compelling scorecard, the government of Hyacinth Alia is recycling accusations against its predecessor.
“Chief Samuel Ortom is not asking to be shielded from accountability. He is demanding due process and insisting that allegations be tested before competent courts rather than in the media. That is a reasonable position”, Gbakaan argued.
