Pay workers’ salaries, pension, Tiv Youths tell Ortom

Members of the Tiv Youth Council Worldwide have asked Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State to pay workers and pensioners to save them from anguish.

Reacting to the governor’s latest criticisms of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, which Ortom described as the worst in the country’s history, the group said the government Ortom criticises could pay salaries while the governor could not pay.

In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja, the president of the Tiv Youth Council, Hon Mike Msuaan, said the Ortom administration would go down as the worst in the history of the state and “will remain the darkest and inglorious years of our evolution as a people if the governor does not retrace his steps and become more focused in the remaining years.”

Msuaan said instead of building synergy like other governors with the federal government to attract socioeconomic development to the state, Ortom preferred to “glory in failure and cover his ineptitude by always dropping (attacking) the name of President Buhari.”

He lamented that since 2015 when Ortom came into office, he had continued to give excuses for his inability to perform.

According to Msuaan, the governor started his blame game with his predecessor Gabriel Suswam, who he accused of siphoning state’s funds meant for development.

Msuaan recalled that the governor set up a judicial panel headed by Justice Kpojime to investigate Suswam, which indicted the former governor for alleged misuse of N107 billion.

He said at that time, Governor Ortom said he needed Suswam to return just N60 billion to turn Benue State around for the best.

The group said instead of capitalizing on the mature disposition of President Buhari to attract development to the state, he had chosen to drop the Nigerian leader’s name to veil his poor performance.

Msuaan said, “We wish to further task Governor Ortom to flip the pages of history and study that of his predecessors like Aper Aku, Rev. Fr. Moses Adasu and George Akume, who were selfless and developed Benue State both in human and infrastructural development.

“Aper Aku built almost all the industries Ortom has listed for sale even as he has not built any for the state. Strangely, Ortom failed to read the history where all his predecessors gave scholarships to Benue indigenes to study abroad and other institutions of higher learning in the country.

“Ortom has not considered any Benue son worthy of a scholarship since he assumed office.” (Leadership)