The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue state has accused Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom of laying land mines for the incoming administration of Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia, over his claim that he has secured a debt collation to the tune of N84 billion from the federal government
The APC in a statement issued on Sunday, denied that the governor secured such debt cancellation as claimed, stressing that he was just making unnecessary claims to put the incoming administration on edge
Governor Ortom claimed that the debt cancellation by the federal government will help to reduce the debt burden of the state as he hands over to the incoming All Progressives Congress (APC) administration in May
The State Commissioner of Finance, Mr David Olofu had told journalists in Makurdi after the State Executive Council, (SEC) meeting presided over by Governor Ortom that the feat was achieved through a debt swap agreement, adding that it was to enable the Rev. Fr. Alia administration start on a clean slate.
The commissioner noted that the funds deployed for the swap were monies belonging to the states and the federal government that the federal government unilaterally used without approval which was being refunded, adding that the Ortom-led administration opted to have it deployed to cancel all debts the state owed the federal government for the benefit of the incoming government in the state.
But APC, in a statement issued by the Director of Communications for the Alia/Ode Campaign Council, Mr Kula Tersoo, rejected the claims, even as it said that there was nothing of such agreement between the Benue state and federal government
According to the statement, the Benue APC party said, “Its checks at the Debts Management Office (DMO) have indicated that though, there was such a proposal by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, it was dismissed on arrival when it was discovered that the proposal was ill-conceived”.
“We, therefore state here unequivocally that no debt(s) has either been swapped or cancelled for Benue state.
“The truth is that Ortom who together with his team lost woefully in the last general elections has suddenly resorted to constantly erecting landmines for the Governor-elect, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia’s incoming administration.
“In the case of this latest outing under review, he only made the announcement to save his face and to erect another landmine to jeopardize the chances of a smooth take-off for the incoming administration.
“The proposal by the NGF was not in good faith and is not genuinely advantageous to Benue state. This is because, some loans stated in that proposal, such as Agricultural Commercial Bank Loan, are not loans taken by the state governments.
“They are loans taken by individuals and companies owned by some governors and their associates, like Oracle Farms.
“States only served as guarantors. This is the reality that clearly illustrates Benue State’s position in this connection, where Ortom used the state as a guarantor to access humongous amounts of money as loans for his personal empire-building.
“So, how can taxpayers’ money be taken to pay loans that the citizens never took or benefitted from? Ortom and his team only wanted to be smart here, but they ended up succeeding in doing that by half”.
The party challenged the Ortom administration to make public details of the loans that they seek to swap
It emphasized that such details must include the types of loan, when the loans were incurred, terms or conditions for the loans, what such money was used for, what were the terms and conditions for offsetting the loans, how much of the loans have been repaid; indicating the period for such repayments
