Ortom
Benue State Governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, on Thursday vowed to hand his predecessor, Gabriel Suswam, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for allegedly embezzling over N100 billion belonging to the state. The governor made this known while addressing a caller on his periodic radio phone-in programme.
He said he had not relented in his bid to recover the billions looted by the former governor and assured the people of the state of following legal means in achieving this aim. “I am not going to relax, I am going to recover every single kobo.
Very soon, I will hand Suswam to EFCC. Nobody can intimidate me to stop what I am doing,” Ortom vowed. The governor refuted allegations that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC) had arrested some of his appointees over the management of bailout funds, insisting that the ICPC did not visit the state.
He also explained that he granted EFCC permission to visit the state and investigate a N500 million fraud, including the disappearance of 10 rice milling machines donated to the state by the Korean government in 2012, as relief for the flood disaster.
Ortom disclosed this at a different occassion while interacting with journalists in Makurdi, saying the 10 rice milling machines were donated to the state government by the Korean government to boost rice production and processing in the state.
“Yesterday, the EFCC were in the state to investigate 10 rice milling machines donated by Korean government in 2012 as relief for the flood disaster, including the N500 million from the Federal Government which were all diverted.
These rice milling machines were diverted during Suswam’s government,” he said. He alleged that Suswam had array of cases to answer before the EFCC following his activities that have put the state in an economic quagmire.
Ortom accused his predecessor and 51 other persons of defrauding the state to the tune of N107 billion, and added that records at his disposal indicates that the embattled former governor collected over N450 million as arrears overheads two days to his exit from office, wondering if overheads are paid in arrears.
The governor queried how he could have collected such huge amount of money for himself when the same amount of money could have addressed the accreditation needs of the School of Nursing and Midwifery in the state.
He stated that spurious allegations against his administration by those who brought the state to its knees, were meant to divert attention of the public from the ills of the immediate past administration, and challenged his predecessor to explain to the people of the state what he did with the huge state’s resources when he was in control as governor rather than play to the gallery.