Benue governor sets up panels to probe Ortom

Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has inaugurated two judicial commissions of inquiry to investigate the administration of his predecessor, Samuel Ortom.

The commissions are the Benue Income and Expenditure Commission of Inquiry 2024 and the Sale/Lease of Government Assets, Companies, and Markets (both State and LG Markets) Moribund Companies Commission of Inquiry 2024.

Alia, while inaugurating members of the commissions on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, said the inquiry was to promote accountability, transparency, and good governance.

The Income and Expenditure Inquiry Commission is chaired by Justice Taiwo (rtd) with Dr Abraham Gberindyer as Secretary, while Justice Appolos Idi (rtd) would chair the Assets and Moribund Companies Inquiry Commission with John Edigbo as Secretary.

Governor Alia said the commissions would investigate the eight-year tenure of Ortom from May 29, 2015, to May 28, 2023, and have six months to submit their reports.

The governor noted that the judicial commissions were constituted in line with the Commission of Inquiry Law (Cap 40) Laws of Benue State, 2004.

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He stressed that the investigation was not a mere bureaucratic endeavour but a response to the earnest desires and hopes of the people of Benue State, who, he said, are critical stakeholders and owners of the state and its resources.

Alia said: “The future prosperity of Benue hinges on the prudent and judicious management of our resources.

“As we usher in a new era characterised by prioritising the welfare of our people, it is imperative and quite incumbent upon us to ensure that every Naira expended serves the collective interest and propels the growth and development of our state.

“Thus, it is incumbent upon us to scrutinise the management of our common resources during the specified periods.

“This inquiry is not rooted in distrust but in our commitment to the principles of accountability, transparency, and good governance, and for safeguarding the interests of the good people of Benue.”

The governor added that the Income and Expenditure Commission of Inquiry would identify the income, expenditure, and utilisation of the funds that accrued to the coffers of the state government within the period of the investigation.

“It is also to identify all state accounts and examine the propriety or otherwise of the transactions in the accounts, identify the loans taken and ascertain the appropriateness of the utilisation, interest charged on the loans and the possible abuses thereof,” he said.

It would be recalled that Ortom, in 2015, also probed the administration of his predecessor, Gabriel Suswam.

The Star