Terver Akase, the media aide to former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, has challenged the incumbent governor, Hyacinth Alia, to substantiate his claim that his predecessor left behind a debt of N359 billion.
Akase’s request comes in response to Governor Alia’s assertion that his administration inherited a debt burden of N359 billion, primarily consisting of unpaid staff salaries, pensions, gratuities, and domestic liabilities.
Governor Alia made this claim after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. He expressed his intention to explore ways to renegotiate the debts and gradually settle them.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Akase contested the accuracy of Governor Alia’s claim, labeling it as false and an intentional ploy to deceive the public. Akase acknowledged that the Ortom administration had a debt of N187.56 billion before exiting on May 29, 2023.
He pointed out that the present government had previously stated, in June of the same year, that Governor Ortom handed over a debt of N187.56 billion. This statement contradicts the latest assertion regarding the state’s debt.
Akase also mentioned that Governor Ortom had taken proactive measures to negotiate debt reduction and relief, including a Debt Swap between Benue State and the Federal Government, facilitated by the Nigerian Governors Forum, resulting in a total debt swap of N71.6 billion.
He emphasized that Governor Ortom’s administration was on track to significantly reduce the debt profile of the state to N45.2 billion by the time he left office, with expected inflows from accumulated stamp duties and refunds from the debt swap.
Akase urged the Alia administration to provide concrete evidence to support their claim that the debt handed over by Chief Ortom amounted to N359 billion, and also called for transparency in disclosing federal allocations, internal revenue generation, and the state’s monthly wage bill.
