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.