The All Progressives Congress (APC) Benue State Chapter wish to commend President Muhammadu Buhari and his APC-led Federal Government for the release of the Paris Club Refund to Benue State despite the verbal attacks of the Governor and his appointees on the person of Mr. President and APC as a party. They have christened APC as “Miyetti Allah Party”
The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has, through his Chief Press Secretary, confirmed receipt of N14.9 billion final tranche of the Paris Club refund from the Federal Government.
While it can be argued that the money is the entitlement of Benue State, during the PDP-led federal government, any state or Governor that attacked the President or the PDP was denied even what was their due. The case of withholding Lagos State allocation is still fresh on our minds. Initially, the National Economic Council had insisted that states that were owing salary arrears like Benue would not benefit from the Paris Refund but the money has been released to cater for the welfare of workers first in line with the directive of Mr. President.
The APC in Benue State wishes to call on Governor Samuel Ortom to put these funds to judicious use by paying salaries, pensions and gratuity and not to divert the funds for his re-election campaign. Already, the Governor has set up a committee as usual to work out modalities on how 80% of the funds can be used to pay salaries paving way for diversion of the 20%. It is our passionate appeal that since there are no projects to be completed, the Governor should use these funds to pay salaries and pensions considering that workers and pensioners in the state have gone through a lot of hard times due to non-payment of salaries. The Governor has received so much from the federal government and diverted the funds. Let this particular refund not suffer the same fate. Also, the Governor’s faction of the State Assembly few days ago approved a loan from UBA of N3.5bn for projects. Let that loan be used for that purpose and Paris Refund to pay salaries and pensions.
Let the people of Benue State also be aware that President Muhammadu Buhari and his APC-led administration does not hate Benue or the Tiv people as Governor Ortom would want them to believe. President Buhari is not responsible for the salaries and pension owed by Governor Ortom neither is he responsible for the non-completion of the Makurdi – Imande Akpu -Gbajimba road. President Buhari did not appoint Alhaji Aliyu Tershaku as Senior Special Assistant to Governor Ortom who masterminded the killings in Benue State rather since the arrest of Tershaku by the Buhari administration, killings have reduced drastically. The Governor is using this campaign of calumny against the President and APC to cover up for his abysmal performance in the past three years. After all, Benue State has got her own fair share of the federal allocation save for the reckless manner in which the Governor has diverted such funds. It is this same allocation that other states have utilized to the benefits of their citizens.
By the way, if the APC is tagged “Miyetti Allah Party” by Governor Ortom, who are the Presidential aspirants in the PDP and what has been their position on the herdsmen killings in Nigeria? Most of the Presidential Aspirants in the PDP are not just Fulani but are Patrons to Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Association as well.
The APC wishes to call on all her teeming supporters across to remain steadfast in their support of the party, even as Governor Ortom, who has looted so much from the state treasury is boasting of using money to buy their votes and conscience. Money that would have saved the lives of many workers and pensioners who have died due to non-payment of pensions for them to buy drugs is now being thrown around by the Governor for second term.
All is well with APC in Benue State and Nigeria.
James Ornguga,
Acting State Publicity Secretary, APC, Benue state.
20th, September, 2018.
