Former Governor of Benue State, Chief Samuel Ortomon Tuesday tasked Benue State Governor, Rev. Hyacinth Alia to come clean on the actual debt profile he inherited from him and stop presenting conflicting figures to people of the state.

According to Ortom, Governor Alia is at the moment, presenting two different debt profiles of N187.56 billion which he (Alia) himself confirmed was handed over to him and at the same time presenting another whooping N359 billion as a debt profile he inherited from the Ortom’s administration.

He said Alia is contradicting himself and should better “publish the books and prove that you inherited N359 billion as debts”.

He told journalists via a statement in Makurdi through his media aide, Mr Terver Akase that “as someone who attended meetings of the Benue State Executive Council in eight years and who accompanied Ortom to the Banquet Hall of the government house where he (Ortom) handed over to Alia “am equipped with the knowledge of the actions and programmes of my principal’s government enough to clarify issues when some mischief is being levelled against him and his administration”.

“The present government of Benue State is selling a narrative to unsuspecting people of the state that they inherited N359 billion as debt from the previous government led by Chief Ortom. This narrative is not only false but is also a deliberate stratagem to snooker the people.

“Curiously, this same government told the people via a statement by Governor Alia’s Chief Press Secretary in June this year that Governor Ortom handed N187.56 billion to them as debt, which was the same amount the former Governor mentioned while presenting handover notes to his successor. What the present government is saying about the state debts now contradicts their previous statement.

“Governor Ortom was explicit in his handover speech that though the debt situation of the State Government at the time of his exit from office might appear to be on the high side (N187.56 billion), his administration had taken proactive steps to negotiate and ensure significant debt reduction/reliefs leading to Debt Swap Between Benue State and Federal Government as facilitated by the Nigerian Governors Forum. Total Debt Swap for State and Local Government Councils stood at N71.6billion.

“The inflows Benue State was expecting at the time Governor Ortom was leaving office were: (a) Backlog of accumulated Stamp Duties – N48billion, (b) Refund from Debt Swap with Federal Government – N22.95 billion. Total = N70.95 billion. When the negotiated debt swap and the expected inflows are discounted, the State was set to attain a significant debt reduction, bringing down its debt profile to N45.2 billion.

“It should also be noted that owing to the efforts of the Ortom administration, Benue State by May 29, 2023, had outstanding approvals awaiting disbursement from the Federal Government including the balance of Bailout – N41 billion and a N20 billion Central Bank of Nigeria facility. At the same time, the Benue State government was expecting N9 billion as a refund on withdrawals for subsidy and SURE-P. The Alia administration has yet to tell the people if it has already received the N9 billion SURE-P funds.

“In the Ortom administration’s commitment to finding a lasting solution to the problem of pensions, the State Government domesticated the Federal Government reforms in pension administration through the Benue State Pension Law, 2019 which introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme.

“Our administration met most of the requirements for the full implementation status of the Contributory Pension Scheme.

“At the time Governor Ortom was rounding off his stewardship, over N8 billion had already been raised under the Scheme and Benue State was on the threshold of meeting the conditions for benefitting from the Contributory Pension Scheme including access to long-term loans and bonds for development projects or defraying existing pension liabilities.

“Governor Ortom also inherited assets and liabilities. Those before him, Governors Suswam, Akume and Adasu also inherited assets and liabilities.

“If the Alia administration wants the people to believe their tale, they should publicly prove that his predecessor Chief Ortom handed over N359 debt to them.

“What baffles me is that the Alia administration has not disclosed to Benue people how much it has received from Abuja as federal allocations and what they have raised as internal revenue since they came on board. They are also mute on the monthly state wage bill”.

The former governor noted that since the Federal Government removed oil subsidy, allocations to states have increased enormously, and implored Governor Alia to tell the people what has come to Benue as federal allocation in the last five months.

The Labour Party (LP) has said the proposed N57.6 million budgeted by the House of Representatives, to gift members with utility vehicles, is a waste of public resources.

The party, however, wants its elected members in the 10th National Assembly, to uphold its ideology of social justice and equal opportunity for the Nigerian people.

LP National Chairman Julius Abure, in a statement on Tuesday, said Nigerians will hold them responsible if they fail to live above board or give proper account of the electoral investment reposed in them.

“Nigerians are fed up with the status quo, and they crave for a different leadership that must factor in the interest of the suffering masses. The poor must be allowed to breathe again in this country,” Abure told the LP members.

He condemned the move to spend a whopping sum of N57.6 billion to buy vehicles for the legislators at a time government claims it cannot afford to increase the minimum wage of N30,000 monthly to workers.

“The Labour Party is indeed shocked, saddened and disappointed at the level of insensitivity being displayed by the executive and the legislative arms of the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress administration.

“It is saddening that with deepening poverty among Nigerians, the administration has decided to increase its appetite for a life of opulence to mock hardworking but underprivileged Nigerians,” he added.

Abure noted that the APC-led Federal Government appointed 48 ministers, “with each of them given three luxurious four-wheel drive vehicles on the first day in office, paid for and fueled by taxpayers.

“This is notwithstanding hundreds of presidential and ministerial aides, as well as numerous aides, which are being funded by the government.”

The National Chairman regretted that most families could not afford two square meals a day, while the government continued to go around the world seeking for loans.

He wondered why the government could spend so much amount of money to import vehicles from other countries instead of patronising local vehicle manufacturing companies, such as Innoson Motors in Anambra, and Peugeot Automobiles in Kaduna, so as to save foreign exchange and boost the local economy.

“When our presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, said we in the Labour Party want to move the economy from consumption to production, this is what we mean – Nigeria first!

“We implore this government to, in the interest of our dear nation, retrace its step and give priority to revamping the economy instead of its current obsession with luxury living,” Abure advised.

A former presidential aspirant, Dele Momodu has said he did not at any point promise President Bola Tinubu his full support for the £500 he gave him during his exile days.

Momodu, however, said he had repaid the president in thousand folds for the help he rendered to him.

The former presidential candidate was reacting to the various versions of his interview, where he had allegedly vowed to always support Tinubu.

He revealed this on Tuesday, on his X page, formerly called Twitter.

“The APC goons will never get tired of circulating their own version of the interview I granted @chudeity a few years ago.

“They are so obsessed with the part I said Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu gave me 500 pounds in London during our exile years, as if that means I must become a perpetual slave because of that well appreciated support.

“Truth is, I repaid that favour a thousand fold, in ways I’m not willing to divulge, but the commonest being free and regular publicity on Ovation platforms running into thousands of dollars. It is called ‘adding value…’

“Nowhere did I say I will give unconditional support to Tinubu,” he said while sharing the full video of the interview.

A strike on a Gaza hospital killed hundreds of Palestinians, deepening tensions in the Middle East and raising the stakes for U.S. President Joe Biden as he flies to Israel on Wednesday to signal support for its war against Hamas.

Palestinian officials said an Israeli air strike hit the hospital, with the Palestinian Authority’s health minister accusing Israel of causing a “massacre”.

Israel blamed the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital on a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which denied responsibility.

Reuters could not independently verify the claims around the catastrophe, which has inflamed a region already in crisis since Hamas carried out an Oct. 7 cross-border rampage against communities in southern Israel in which at least 1,300 people died.

Palestinian ministry spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qudra said rescuers were still pulling bodies from the rubble.

Al Jazeera carried footage showing a frantic scene as rescue workers scoured blood-stained debris for survivors.

Rescuers and civilians were shown carrying away at least four victims in body bags.

A Gaza civil defence chief gave a death toll of 300, while health ministry sources put it at 500.

Biden’s complex diplomatic mission to the Middle East was supposed to calm the region and shore up humanitarian efforts for Gaza.

However, after the strike, Jordan cancelled a planned summit with the U.S. president, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Abbas also cancelled plans to meet Biden, as Palestinian security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse anti-government protesters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah as popular anger boiled.

Protests also took place at Israel’s embassies in Turkey and Jordan and near the U.S. embassy in Lebanon, where security forces fired tear gas toward demonstrators.

Before the hospital strike, health authorities in Gaza said at least 3,000 people had died in Israel’s 11-day bombardment that began after the Hamas assault, which caught Israel by surprise and led to nearly 200 people being taken to Gaza as hostages.

The Israeli military urged Gaza City residents to relocate southward on Wednesday, saying there was a “humanitarian zone” with aid available in Al-Mawasi, 28 km (17 miles) down the coast of the Palestinian enclave.

“The IDF calls on #GazaCity residents to evacuate south for their protection,” said a social-media post by the military.

Speaking to reporters as Biden flew to Tel Aviv, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Biden would put “tough questions” to Israeli leaders but did not give details.

Biden will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet seeking to get a sense of Israel’s plans and aims, Kirby said.

“He also aims to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, where millions of Palestinians are surviving with scant food, fuel and water due to Israel’s siege.

“He’ll be asking some tough questions, he’ll be asking them as a friend, as a true friend of Israel, but he’ll be asking some questions of them,” Kirby said.

It was unclear what Biden could accomplish during his visit. Kirby said the U.S. president planned to speak with Abbas and Sisi on his way back to Washington.

“This sort of murky but horrific event makes diplomacy harder and increases escalation risks,” said Richard Gowan, UN director at International Crisis Group.

Biden has previously said the United States does not want the conflict to flare up into a wider war.

Iran, which supports Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Lebanon-based Islamist group Hezbollah have warned Israel of escalation if it fails to end aggressions against Palestinians.

The U.S. State Department told Americans not to travel to Lebanon after exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon’s south.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified” by hundreds of people killed in Tuesday’s strike on the hospital.

Guterres appealed to Hamas for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, and to Israel to allow immediate unrestricted access to humanitarian aid for Gaza. (Reuters/NAN)

The Benue State government has accused the immediate past administration of ex-Governor Ortom of operating 600 accounts.

Speaking when State Correspondents’ Chapel members of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) paid him a visit at his office in Makurdi, on Tuesday, Commissioner for Finance and Budget Planning, Michael Oglegba, said that was why Governor Hyacinth Alia froze all government accounts on assumption of office.

The finance commissioner said the governor was shown only 25 accounts when he took over office but information at the Nigerian Inter Bank System, however, showed that the state had over 600 accounts.

“When we came in, we asked for the accounts and bank statements and we were presented with about 25 bank accounts. A causal look at the Nigerian Inter Bank System showed that Benue Government had more than 600 accounts.

“So the Governor needed to freeze those accounts to know exactly what was happening,” he said.

Oglegba while commenting on the state debts profile, insisted that the Alia government inherited over N359billion debts which included that of the Local Government Arrears.

Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi has offered N2 million each to 500 entrepreneurs into street hawking in different parts of the country.

Mr Nwifuru gave the money to the beneficiaries at the flagging off of the first batch of the state skills acquisition programme on Tuesday at Ochiudo Centenary City Secretariat, Abakaliki.

The governor assured that his administration was ready to tackle unemployment and empower the people across the 13 local government areas of the state.

He called for an urgent need for skills acquisition, noting that the state centre for skills development was open for the people to learn.

Offia Nwali, the state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, said the beneficiaries, currently undergoing training in different skills, were into hawking in different parts of the country.

“The programme targeted 1,500 Ebonyi indigenes, but we are starting today with 500 for the first batch. So, we are doing it batch by batch.

“The beneficiaries have started receiving their money, and the governor has asked anybody that did not get the alert to call him on the phone, beginning today, Tuesday,” the commissioner added. (NAN)

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has berated the House of Representatives over its defence put up to buy new exotic vehicles for its members.

Recall that the Green Chamber had concluded plans to purchase brand new official vehicles for members amidst the hardship going on in the country, which has generated a lot of backlash.

But in a statement on Sunday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Akin Rotimi, said the media reports on the acquisition of the vehicles are being exaggerated.

The lawmaker clarified that the vehicles distributed to members are not for personal use but utility operational vehicles tied to their oversight functions.

He said the vehicles attached to the lawmakers are expected to be returned after their tenure; however, members may be allowed to pay for the outstanding value of the vehicles and claim ownership after their tenure in the National Assembly.

Reacting in a post on her X handle on Tuesday, Ezekwesili described the statement released by the spokesman of the House as extremely ludicrous and duplicitous.

She said the Green Chamber had the audacity to spend scarce public resources on luxury cars at a time majority of the citizens cannot feed, transport themselves, or pay school fees and hospital bills due to the cost of living crisis.

Ezekwesili described members of the National Assembly as the biggest threat to the country’s democracy for planning to buy new exotic vehicles for themselves at this time of severe economic distress for the citizens and the country.

She wrote: “So that vexing news turned out to be accurate.

“I read the extremely ludicrous and duplicitous statement released by the Spokesman of the @HouseNGR on their insensitive purchase of 360 Toyota SUVs for themselves.

“You all had the audacity to spend scarce public resources on luxury cars at a time majority of your citizens cannot feed, transport themselves, pay school fees and hospital bills due to the cost of living crisis?

“At this stage, it is evident you want to continue with your serial bad behaviour.

“Since not even 1 of you fellows @nassnigeria @HouseNGR @NGRSenate saw the heartlessness of that decision to buy 360 new Toyota SUVs for yourselves at this time of severe economic distress of the citizens and country, please know that you all are the biggest threat to our Democracy.

“Just know that a day cometh and very soon too, when it will be your fed-up Nigerian Citizens and not the Military that will rise up and collectively chase all of you grossly irresponsible and insensitive people out of office. And very soon too.”

In another post, she wrote: “Crass behaviour all year round from an irresponsible political class.

Just because most of you rigged yourselves into public office @nassnigeria, you feel entitled to an indulgent life funded by the miserable public treasury of a country you badly govern, with the majority of poor people barely eking out a living.

“There’s a sell-by-date for this recurring rascality, and make no mistakes, you all will bring that date forward with your shenanigans.

“Incorrigible bunch of LawBreakers.”

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has berated the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, over his statement on the 2023 presidential election.

Recall that Lawal had claimed that the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, won the 2023 election, while President Bola Tinubu came a distant third.

In a statement on Tuesday night, the APC spokesman, Felix Morka, said the former SGF needs counselling and pity because he is a failed politician.

Morka said after a long break from weeping over the electoral loss of his candidate, the former SGF is peddling gibberish, rather than learning from his political misadventure with equanimity.

He added that Obi’s defeat at the poll has affected Lawal’s psyche and his capacity for rational thought is based entirely on the figment of his warped imagination rather than on hard facts and figures.

Morka, therefore, challenged Lawal to give a detailed breakdown of his so-called “aggregated facts sourced from independent sources,” which he claimed proved that Obi won the election or forever keep mute.

The statement reads: “Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, emerged from his hibernation slinging incoherent aspersions on the person of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the exalted office he occupies.

“After a long hiatus leaking his wounds from the monumental electoral loss of his candidate in the last presidential election, Mr. Lawal unabashedly is out again, peddling gibberish, rather than learning from his political misadventure with equanimity.

“Clearly, the defeat of his principal, Peter Obi, at the poll has done incalculable damage to Mr. Lawal’s psyche and his capacity for rational thought as evident in his analysis based entirely on the figment of his warped imagination rather than on hard facts and figures. A clear sign of his disconnect from reality was his reference to the election held in May 2023, rather than February.

“We challenge Babachir Lawal to give a detailed breakdown of his so-called “aggregated facts sourced from independent sources,” which he claimed proved that Obi won the election or forever keep mute. That he did not provide these facts to help Obi prove his case before the Presidential Elections Petitions Court is a massive disservice if not a betrayal of his political principles.

“Babachir Lawal ought to have known that running a jaundiced commentary on a matter before the Supreme Court is the height of irresponsibility. But he is still nursing bitterness and vindictiveness over his failed dream of running on a joint ticket with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“Indeed, Babachir Lawal is in dire need of professional counseling and deserves our collective pity. It is obvious he may never get over the pain of being tossed into the dustbin of political ignominy by President Bola Tinubu who, against all odds, defeated Mr Peter Obi who exploited our religious and ethnic fault lines in his campaign for the nation’s highest office.

“Thankfully, Nigerians across all ethnic and religious divides saw through Babachir Lawal’s and Peter Obi’s shenanigans and voted for the best candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.”

Morka also berated the Lawal for questioning the professional competence of President Tinubu’s appointees, saying that some of them are bigger than Lawal politically.

The APC spokesman described the former SGF as a lightweight politician who thinks himself a heavyweight and failed politician

He added: “Furthermore, it is very uncharitable for Mr. Babachir Lawal to call to question the professional competence of President Tinubu’s appointees, some of whom he cannot hold a candle to their political and professional accomplishments.

“Babachir Lawal is one lightweight politician who thinks himself a heavyweight. He failed spectacularly as a politician in his State of Adamawa where in three election circles he could not deliver his ward and local government in his Hong Local Government.

“Despite his legendary failure as a politician, former President Muhammadu Buhari in deference to diversity appointed him to the high office of SGF where he was unceremoniously sacked on account of very poor performance and dishonourable conduct. A man like Babachir Lawal is in no position to offer an opinion on the competence of President Tinubu’s appointees.

“We are convinced that these appointees would justify the confidence reposed in them by the President by delivering on the promises of the Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration.

“And while they are it, we would admonish Babachir Lawal to concentrate on managing his farm and stop constituting himself into a needless distraction unbefitting of his age and status.”

The Nysome Wike -led group of five Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governors made up of four former and one serving governor, held talks with President Bola Tinubu late on Tuesday, Vanguard has learnt.

It was gathered that the meeting was preceded by a meeting held at the Abuja residence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Nyesom Wike.

Soon after the meeting, it was gathered that Wike led his former colleagues to meet with President Tinubu, at the Presidential Villa.

Although details of the meeting were sketchy as at the time of filing this report at 10:45 pm, it was gathered that a working relationship between the president and the former governors was what was tabled.

A source privy to the meeting who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the issue said, “The G-5 PDP Governors first met in Wike’s residence for a few hours before heading to the Villa to meet with the president.

“Exact details of what was discussed isn’t available to me at the moment, but from discussions held during the initial meeting at Wike’s residence, it was all about finding accommodation for the former governors in the scheme of things and of course, how they can work together .”

The source noted that it was instructive that the former governors were meeting with President Tinubu barely 24 hours to the commencement of the Imo State PDP governorship campaign in Owerri and the growing tension over the occupant of the seat of party Secretary.

The former Governors who attended the meeting were: Nyesom Wike, immediate past Rivers State Governor and now FCT minister, former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, former Enugu State Governor, Ifianyi Ugwuanyi, his Abia State counterpart, Okezie Ikpeazu and serving Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde.

In exercise of powers conferred on the President as established in Section 3(6) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and in furtherance of the Renewed Hope mandate to reform key institutions and invigorate Nigeria's war on corruption, President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of a new management team for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), pending Senate confirmation:

Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu — Chairman / Chief Executive Officer, ICPC

Mr. Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu — Secretary to the Commission, ICPC

The new Chairman of the ICPC is nominated for confirmation by the Nigerian Senate, following the President's approval of the outgoing Chairman's request to proceed on pre-end of tenure leave beginning on November 4, 2023, ahead of the expiration of his tenure on February 3, 2024.

The position of Secretary to the Commission does not require Senate confirmation and, therefore, by the directive of the President, the appointment of Mr. Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu as Secretary of the Commission takes immediate effect.

Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu has embarked upon many far-reaching reforms as the Attorney General of Jigawa State since September 2019 and holds Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate degrees in Law. He was also named as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria-designate in October 2023.

Mr. Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu is a lawyer with over 30 years of experience and has served meritoriously in the public service as a Member of the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission and Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of Port Harcourt City Local Government Council.

The President implores the new management team of the ICPC to always be above board as they discharge their duties without fear or favour concerning all matters before them.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

October 17, 2023