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Tag: Ortom

  • Ortom’s govt behind herdsmen’s killings in Benue – Akume

    Ortom’s govt behind herdsmen’s killings in Benue – Akume

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator George Akume, claimed on Friday that the Benue State Government was behind the attacks by herdsmen in the state, which had consumed hundreds of lives.

    In the course of the relentless attacks, many villages were also reduced to rubble in Benue state.

    On January 1 alone, 75 lives were lost to the herdsmen in the state in one example among many that followed subsequently across several months.

    The Benue killings received both national and international condemnation, especially when the plight of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons became the sight of sadness and sorrows.

    But, Akume, a former Governor of the state, blamed the attacks on the state government.

    He spoke with State House correspondents shortly after he led a delegation of All Progressives Congress members from the state on a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The visit was primarily to assure Buhari that the party would mobilise support in Benue State for Buhari’s re-election in 2019.

    Responding to a question on the herdsmen, Akume replied, “When you talk about herdsmen and farmers’ clash, it is a story going good-bye Have you heard of farmers/herders clashes in Benue again? No.

    “We know those who were behind that; government was behind that. I am talking about the state government, through the livestock guards. They knew what was going on. So it is now a thing of the past.

    “Everything that is going there is fraudulent in Benue State and the people are simply tired on this misinformation that they have been receiving. The narrative has changed; it is not question of herdsmen, we are not talking about religious and ethnic bigotry, we are talking about performance of government.”

    A statement by his Special Adviser to President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, also said the President was unhappy that some states took bailout to pay salaries but still owed workers.

    On the herdsmen, the President was quoted as saying, “We know about herders. The ones we knew carried sticks, and sometimes cutlasses to cut foliage for their cattle. We now have people who carry AK 47s and pretend they are herdsmen.

  • Benue will pay any amount adopted as minimum wage – Ortom assures workers

    Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, has promised to pay any amount agreed upon by the negotiating committee on minimum wage.

    Ortom stated this on Tuesday in Makurdi, when members of Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, and other sister unions visited him to register their support for the upward review of wages.

    The News Agency of Nigeria, reports that the Organised Labour has proposed a minimum wage of N30,000, vowing to shut down the country if the demand was not met.

    Ortom, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr Terwase Orbunde, said that he was not against the upward review of workers’ minimum wages “in spite of the current economic challenges bedevilling the country”.

    “I will work in line with the outcome of the new minimum wage committee.

    “I am known for championing improved welfare for workers. I did it when I was the Chairman of Guma Local Government Area.

    “When I came on board as governor, primary school teachers were not receiving the N18,000.00 minimum wage. I stepped up their salaries without waiting for them to mount pressure on me to do so.

    “I wanted them to be at par with other civil servants in the State.

    “They did not march in protest before I increased their salaries. I am not against a better life for workers,” he said.

  • Herdsmen planning to attack Benue again – Ortom raises alarm

    Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Friday raised the alarm that herdsmen have threatened to unleash fresh attacks in Benue State.
     
    In a statement issued by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, the herdsmen had sent a message to the people of Mbagwen community in Guma Local Government Area of the state.
    The governor’s alarm is coming after the recent attack on Tse Ado village in the same Guma LGA where herdsmen killed two people in their farm.
     
    Ortom said, “Herdsmen have sent a message to the people of Mbagwen community in Guma Local Government Area that they will attack in a matter of days. This was confirmed by the Council Chairman of Guma.
     
    “Two days ago, herdsmen drove the people of Tse-Ado and the surrounding villages out of their homes after they killed two farmers at Angela community.
     
    “The herdsmen had occupied communities in parts of Guma and Logo after chasing away members of those communities and killing many.
     
    “The threats are coming on the heels of the return of some internally displaced persons to their ancestral homes.
     
    “The question is; why are the attacks resuming at a time the harvest season is here? We suspect that the planned invasion is targeted at preventing the people from harvesting the few crops they were able to cultivate amid the mindless attacks which took place earlier in the year.”
     
    WhiIe drawing the attention of the Force Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke, Major General Adeyemi Yekini, to the threat, the governor through his CPS called on the commander not to take the latest threat of the attack lightly.
     
    He commended the Commander, officers, and men of Operation Whirl Stroke for the great job they had done to ensure the return of the IDPs to their communities and urged them to move swiftly to forestall the evil agenda of the armed herdsmen and their sponsors.
     

  • 2019: Why majority of Benue residents oppose Buhari’s re-election – Ortom

    Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has revealed why ‘the majority’ of Benue residents are opposed to the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari.
    While explaining that the people of the state have ‘nothing against Fulani people’ as it is being insinuated, he adduced reasons for the Benue people’s alleged discontent with the President.
    Ortom made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Makurdi and signed by his Special Adviser on Media and ICT, Mr. Tahav Agerzua.
     
    “We have lived with the Fulani people for ages; we have nothing against them. Even the Fulani people know that we have nothing against them,” Ortom said; recalling that Benue people voted overwhelmingly for former presidents Shehu Shagari and Umaru Yar’Adua in 1979, 1983 and 2007 respectively.
     
    “We also voted for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, but while Shagari and Yar’Adua reciprocated the support they received by patronising Benue people through federal appointments and projects, President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC have failed to register any positive federal presence in the state,” Ortom said.
     
    “But from my findings, majority of Benue residents are opposed to the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC, because they have failed to register any positive federal presence in the state.
     
    “Many people also feel that the APC-led Federal Government has failed to secure lives and property,’’ he added.
     
    The governor promised to work with his predecessor, Dr. Gabriel Suswam, to bring development to the state.
     
    The statement said that Ortom and Suswam had put the past behind them and had resolved to work together.
     
    In the meantime, Suswam has appealed to Ortom’s close aides to educate the people on the governor’s achievements and his challenges.
     
    He also urged Ortom to entrust his fate in God’s hands so that the creator would always resolve challenges in the governor’s favour.

  • BREAKING: Benue PDP returns Ortom for 2019

    BREAKING: Benue PDP returns Ortom for 2019

    Delegates at the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) convention in Benue State have returned Governor Samuel Ortom as the standard bearer of the party ahead of 2019 gubernatorial election.
    Ortom emerged the party’s candidate after pulling the total of 2,210 votes to defeat his closest rival, Surv. John Tondu who pulled 475 votes.
    The election which was rigorous and tortuous, was held in a most peaceful and transparent atmosphere.
    According to the returning officer of the election, Hajia Zainab Maina, “the election was conducted in line with laid down rules and procedures”.
    In his acceptance speech, Governor Ortom promised to unite the state and design a blueprint that will spur developments across the state.
    Governor Ortom said he remains committed to “the leadership that is anchored on transparency and the fear of God”.
    He called on the people of Benue and Nigeria to join the PDP and help salvage the Nigerian situation.
    “I called on Benue people and all Nigerians to join hands with the PDP, having apologised for the wrongs of the past, so we can rescue this country.
    “I was in sojourn in APC and there it was very difficult for me to exercise my responsibility, but here I am, now a free man. This marks the end of politics of godfatherism in Benue.
    “The government of Benue state shall be run by the People, where everyone shall be stakeholders, all hands must be on deck, to move the state forward”, the Governor said.
    Ortom also thanked the People of Benue, especially, the leaders and delegates of the party as well as the co-aspirants, for making it possible for his emergency as the PDP candidate for 2019 election.

  • Herdsmen planning to kill me, Ortom reveals

    Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has again raised the alarm that Fulani herdsmen were planning to kidnap, torture and kill him.

    The claimed that the herdsmen’s plan is billed to be hatched along Makurdi-Lafia-Abuyja highway.

    Ortom disclosed this, on Friday, at an interactive session between the church, traditional institution and other stakeholders towards peace building, organised by the Makurdi Catholic Diocese held at the Pastoral Center in Makurdi, in the state capital.

    The governor, who spoke in Tiv language, said he got an intelligence report that the Fulani herdsmen, who are currently occupying part of Guma Local Government Area of the state, were planning to attack him along Makurdi-Abuja-Lafia Road.

    The governor said the armed herdsmen, according to the intelligence report, would ensure that all his security aides were killed after which they would kidnap him, torture him before killing him, adding that already, he had reported the matter to the police and other security agencies.

    Accrording to Governor Ortom, “Therefore, anytime l sleep and wake up and my spirit doesn’t allow me to travel by road, I would call flight operators but just a few days ago, the Federal Government has issued a secular that no flight should land in Makurdi airport again.”

    The governor, who also alleged that some Benue indigenes were conniving with other forces, in Abuja, to kill him, stressed the need for the Federal Government to urgently address the killings across Nigeria by herdsmen militia to pave way for peaceful election in 2019.

    He maintained that most of the polling units in the crisis-affected areas have been destroyed and taken over by the Fulani herdsmen as their grazing fields.

    “The killings across Nigeria is a deliberate attempt by some people either Boko Haram, armed bandits or herdsmen working for the same purpose to disenfranchise large proportion of Nigerians from voting for the leaders of their choice.

    “Amnesty international had come out to disclose that over 19,000 people have lost their lives in Benue, Taraba, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau states to herdsmen attacks and this does not speak well of Nigeria nation especially as we are heading towards 2019.”

    While lamenting that Benue indigenes have become destitute and refugees in their fathers’ lands,Governor Ortom further disclosed that pockets of killings were still going on in Makurdi, Guma, Logo and Katsina Ala local government areas of the state.

    He explained further that most of the farmlands along the borderlines of Taraba and Nasarawa states have been taken over by herdsmen militia who currently occupy the areas to the detriment of the indigenes.

  • Alleged misappropriation of funds: EFCC denies investigating Ortom, Benue State Govt

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has denied investigating the accounts, appropriation and administration of funds of the government of Benue State.

    It faulted insinuations that it was working to cripple the government.

    The commission said it was only investigating some officials of the state government against who some citizens made allegations of diversion of public funds, money laundering and related offences.

    The EFCC said its activities in Benue were within its constitutional powers. It faulted claim by the Benue State Attorney General that the investigation being carried out by the EFCC in the state amounted to usurping the functions of the House of Assembly.

    The anti-graft agency made the explanation in its response to a suit filed by the Benue State Government through the state’s Attorney General. Defendants in the suit are EFCC, Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, Clerk, Benue State House of Assembly and the Auditor General, Benue State.

    The EFCC, in its counter-affidavit to the plaintiff’s originating summons, stated that its investigation in Benue was informed by petitions from indigenes of the state, including former Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav and Joel Magnus, President of a group, Concerned Citizens of Benue State Transparency Anti-Corruption Group, Gboko, Benue State.

    It stated that the petitioners identified some officials of the state government, who they accused of diverting the state’s funds and engaging in money laundering and other related financial crimes, a development, which informed why the state has been unable to pay staff salaries.

    The EFCC added: “In carrying out its onerous duties, the 1st defendant, being a responsible agency of government, has employed the best practices of extending invitation to concerned State Government functionaries through high ranking government officials such as Secretary to the State Government, Permanent Secretaries of relevant ministries/agencies, Accountant General of the state and Liaison Officer, Benue State Liaison Office, Abuja without resorting to crude and uncivilised methods.

    “The 1st defendant is not investigating the accounts and/or appropriation, disbursement and administration of funds of Benue State Government. The 1st defendant is only investigating economic and financial crimes, money laundering related offences allegedly committed by some officials of Benue State Government.

    “The ongoing investigation cannot result into a shut down or grinding to a halt, the activities of governance in Benue State as the 1st defendant is not an army of occupation. Indeed, the 1st defendant has not shut down government offices/business as it has been inviting relevant state government officials to make statements and/or furnish relevant documents as the need arises.

    “The ongoing investigation can only result in restoring the confidence of citizens of Benue State, who are calling for accountability, transparency and probity in the affairs of government of their state. It may well be that the outcome of investigation may prove the allegations as baseless, which is in the interest of the government of Benue State.

    “That contrary to the depositions contained in paragraphs 12 13 of the affidavit in support of the originating summons, the business of governance of Benue State has not in any way suffered or been destabilised consequent upon the ongoing investigation, as relevant officials only report as the need arises, who report and make statements and or bring relevant documents in furtherance of investigation.

    “That contrary to the depositions contained in paragraphs 21, 22 and 25 of the affidavit in support of the Originating Summons, it is not true that honouring invitations by relevant Benue State Government officials in furtherance of ongoing invitation is distracting or causing inconveniences to the officials invited, who by virtue of their offices and responsibilities/duties, their statements are crucial to the investigation, which is very painstaking.

    “That contrary to the depositions contained in paragraphs 23 and 24 of the affidavit in support of the originating summons, the statutory duties of the 1st defendant of investigating criminal allegations are never in conflict with the constitutional duties of the 4th defendant, hence there is no usurpation of the official functions of the 4th defendant, whose constitutional duties are quite distinct and different from the statutory duties of the 1st defendant.

    “The 1st defendant has never interfered with the federal principles relating to the tiers to the tiers of government, as the 1st defendant is only discharging its statutory duties.

    Yesterday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba fixed August 29 for the hearing of the suit in which the plaintiff is challenging the propriety of EFCC’s ongoing activities in the state.

     

  • 2019: Why I’ll remain in PDP despite crisis – Ortom

    Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State on Friday said he is a committed member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

    The governor insisted that no amount of gang-up against him within and outside the PDP would make him defect to another party.

    There have been insinuations that the governor may defect from the PDP to the Social Democratic Party due to the unresolved disagreement between him and the leadership of the PDP over who controls the structure of the party in the state.

    Recall that the governor had on July 25 defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP.

    Speaking on behalf of the governor on Friday, his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, said talks between Ortom and other governorship aspirants within the PDP were still ongoing.

    He said, “As l speak with you, there is no such thought (of defecting) at all. The governor has joined the PDP, he was in the PDP before he left and he has said that he has come back home. So, there is no such thought at all.

    “Ortom is a true member of the PDP and is confident of flying the PDP flag in next year’s election. So, why should he think about leaving the PDP? There is no reason and no cause for such thought as I speak with you. l don’t have to comment about what any aspirant is saying because the PDP I know is a big family that makes decisions to accommodate all its members.

    “The party is still discussing and decisions have yet to be reached, but l know that any decision taken would not make Ortom to leave the PDP again.”

    The Publicity Secretary, SDP, Philip Awer, said the leaders of the party had been inundated with information about Ortom’s possible defection but noted that the governor had not contacted anyone in the party yet.

    Philip said, “We have been receiving calls from people who want to find out; I read it online but I can tell you with authority that the governor has not called anyone. So, to me, it is a lie.”

    Meanwhile, there are strong indications that the PDP in the state has been in a fix over the governorship ticket.

    This may not be unconnected with the cold war between the 12 governorship aspirants and Ortom.

    An insider source in the state confirmed that the 12 governorship aspirants had threatened to defect to another party in the event that Ortom was given preference over other aspirants during the primary election.

    “Assuming we all left the party the way he did in 2014, what would he have met on his return,” one of the aspirants, who did not want to be mentioned, said.

    The winner of the primary election in 2014, Mr. Tehemen Tarzoor, in an interview with our correspondent, also said any attempt to give preference to the governor would spell doom for the party.

     

  • Ortom knocks EFCC for demanding minutes of Benue State Security Council meetings

    Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Wednesday berated the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for demanding minutes of the state security council meetings.

    Ortom who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, claimed that the commission had continued to ground the state government with invitation of government officials to EFCC’s office.

    The anti-graft agency had few weeks ago disclosed that it was investigating the state government’s expenditure of N22bn.

    Few days after, the governor through his Chief Press Secretary said that the state accounts had been frozen by the anti-graft agency.

    He was reported as saying then, “Yes, it is true that accounts of the Benue State Government have been frozen by the EFCC. It is part of the political witch-hunt against Governor Samuel Ortom. The action of the EFCC is already having negative impact on the running of government in Benue State. It is a move that will affect salaries, pensions and other sundry payments.

    “The question we are asking is: why did EFCC not investigate the governor’s security votes when he was still a member of the APC? Why start the investigation now?

    “EFCC should not allow itself to be used as an attack dog unleashed against perceived political opponents. Let the Federal Government tell us how much it has spent on prosecuting the fight against Boko Haram and how much it spent on other operations such as Python Dance, Crocodile Smile and Whirl Stroke.”

    Speaking on the new development, the governor said, “EFCC is still victimising the state because what happens now is that every day, the commission invites not fewer than seven government officials to Abuja. Government activities have been grounded. The victimisation has reached a ridiculous level now as the commission is demanding minutes of the security council meetings.

    “The level at which EFCC is pushing its persecution of Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, is ridiculous. No day passes without the commission adding one more angle to their harassment of Benue officials.

    “Their latest move is the demand for minutes of the Benue State Security Council meetings. Does the statutory mandate of the commission include regulation of states’ security affairs?”

     

  • 2019: Ortom speaks on possibility of returning to APC

    The Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has vowed that no amount of “torment or persecution”, will make him reconsider his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, the governor accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of being a strike squad of the ruling party.

    Ortom also alleged that the federal government had been using the anti-graft agency to “cripple governance in the state.

    “After succumbing to nationwide condemnation of its illegal freezing of Benue State Government accounts, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has resorted to yet another shameful act in its desperation to cripple governance in the state,” the statement read.

    “The anti-graft agency’s latest move is the bandying of figures in national dailies claiming that such figures are those of transactions in the accounts owned by the Benue State Government.

    “It released figures allegedly withdrawn from the Benue State Government accounts without disclosing the dates of the withdrawals and the period during which they were made.

    “The commission has also not been able to state accounts into which such monies withdrawn were paid to prove that the funds had been diverted.

    “EFCC is contented with publishing the figures without stating how impropriety has been established.

    “Are government monies supposed to be kept in the accounts indefinitely without expenditure? Their objective is apparently to give Governor Samuel Ortom and his administration a bad name.

    “On this score, it is clear that the EFCC has now become both a strike squad of the APC for torment, and their law court for the trial and conviction of political opponents.

    “The commission may torment and persecute Governor Ortom and his subordinates on the directives of the powers that be as much as it serves their purposes, but he will neither be distracted nor reconsider his defection from APC.”