By Akinwale Kasali
Less than 24 hours to the handing over of the Benue State affairs to the incoming Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, outgoing Governor Samuel Ortom has handed over the sum of N187 billion in debt made up of salary arrears, loans, contractual obligations, and others.
At the old banquet hall of Government House, Makurdi, Ortom gave a summary of contents in his handover note said that a total sum of N734.9 billion was accrued to the State throughout his eight years.
He added that the expenditure and others gulped N735.6 billion admitting that the debt situation of the state was on the high side.
He said: “This handover note contained not only structure but activities of my eight years of administration. It has sectoral briefs of the agencies, ministries, and departments.
“It contains three volumes; volume one is the handover of all MDAs, volume two comprises of policy document of my administration, (the Benue development plan) the part b is the comprehensive briefs submitted by ministries and agencies and part three contained highlights of debt profile and pension.
“The revenue and income from all sources; federation account, Value Added Tax, grants, loans, and others stand at N734.9 billion as of the end of April while the expenditure stand at N735.6b as of the end of April.
“The Indebtedness of the state which comprises salary arrears, pension, contractual obligations, and others is N187 billion.
The outgoing Governor added, “The debt situation of the state might appear on the high side but the government had taken significant steps to reduce this through debt swap with the federal government.
Ortom informed the incoming Governor to make use of the opportunities of funds that will soon be available for him such as the backlog of stamp duty and N61 billion loan facilities from the Central Bank of Nigeria for a smooth take-off.
The incoming Governor applauded Ortom for the handover saying that he was happy for the successful transition of power, wishing his predecessor success in his future endeavours.
Alia, a Catholic Priest, suspended from Priesthood for joining Politics is of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Ortom, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was roundly defeated in all the elections in his State, including failing in his aspiration to be a Senator.
