JUST IN: Fresh Crisis Looms: Ortom vs Fr. Alia
Fresh Crisis Looms: Ortom vs Fr. Alia
Although we do not know whether the outgoing governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has actually proposed a bill that he intends to send to the state house of assembly on juicy retirement packages for former governors in the state or not, we at least know that the governor-elect, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has urged people of the state to prevail on their representatives in the assembly to reject the bill if it eventually comes. According to Fr. Alia, the bill proposes that a house be built to the outgoing governor’s taste in any part of the country that he chooses, his medical bills and those of his family members must be paid by the state government, abroad or locally, in addition to a monthly jumbo pay package. If true, then, other former governors and their deputies in the state are also to benefit from the package.
Benue State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had earlier made a similar claim.
But the state house of assembly has denied receiving such a bill. However, Governor Ortom has neither confirmed nor denied if the claim was true or not. Meanwhile, he had denied the insinuation that the state was in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as a result of its inability to meet its obligations to workers and pick other bills, as alleged by the governor-elect. This was one of the things Fr. Alia told President Muhammadu Buhari during a ‘thank you visit’ to him at the Aso Rock Villa.
Whatever it is; if the governor-elect has heard that such a proposal was in the offing and he is undertaking a campaign to block it, it is within his right as a citizen of the state to do so. It is a different thing if the governor-elect had directed the state law makers not to pass the bill or he had written to banks to do or not to do certain transactions with the outgoing government, because he has not yet assumed office.
Benue State would not be the first state to make such proposal for the benefit of their former state chief executives and their deputies. As a matter of fact, the benefits are already in place in some states as well as at the national level for the president and vice president. In some cases, some of the outgoing government officials ensure that they get their exit allowances before leaving. Indeed, the largesse was to be extended to the National Assembly’s principal officers, but for public outcry.
We are averse to such outlandish proposals because they are usually out of tune with economic realities. It is also immoral in that the beneficiaries would only have served for a maximum of eight years, with almost all their needs met by the relevant governments. Yet, there are many people in the public service all over the country who have served for 25 years and above and yet are not entitled to any special benefits beyond the miserable pension that the governments pay them. Even the pensions do not come as and when due in many cases. We have had several situations of pensioners collapsing on unending verification queues.
Yet, it is the same people who subject pensioners to these harrowing experiences that work out mouth-watering packages for themselves as soon as it dawns on them that the perks of office would no longer be available for them once they are out of government.
If indeed Governor Ortom intends to extend the same benefits to himself and former chief executives in the state, he should forget it. The fact is; what is on ground in the state now does not support that kind of request. With backlog of workers’ salaries and pension arrears, it would be insensitive and immoral for the state government to bear the costs of the reported emoluments. The governor had himself had cause to plead with the workers and pensioners to bear with the state government. At some point he blamed his inability to meet his obligations on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that refused to disburse certain funds to the state government despite approvals from all the necessary authorities. Where would the state now get funds to implement the reported proposal?
There is no doubt that the state has hardly known peace in the last few years, due to the activities of herdsmen that have been having frequent clashes with the people of Benue State. This must have had some effects on the state government’s finances because peace is sine qua non for development.
We urge the incoming governor to see to it that peace returns to the state as soon as possible so that he too can make progress when he assumes office. Benue State has the potential to be great. It is not called ‘The food basket of the Nation’ for nothing.
Fr. Alia must avoid playing to the gallery. He should rather keep his eyes focused on the challenges facing the state. Benue is in dire straits as he rightly observed. So, he must keep to his promise to President Buhari that he would remain focussed in tackling the myriad of issues on his desk when he takes over. That, precisely, is what he should do. Time is of the essence.
