N139.8 BILLION: ORTOM IS RIGHT, ALIA IS CHASING SHADOWS
Governor Hyacinth Alia’s renewed campaign against his predecessor, Chief Samuel Ortom, over the alleged missing N139.8 billion has clearly moved beyond the boundaries of accountability. What is unfolding in Benue today increasingly appears less like a genuine anti-corruption drive and more like a calculated political vendetta.
In a statement signed and made available to journalists by Aloysius Gbakaan, President, Alliance for Truth and Justice (ATJ), noted that At its core, this controversy seems designed to achieve one objective: to create a convenient scapegoat for an administration struggling to justify its own performance after three years in office.
After a careful examination of the facts surrounding the allegations, one conclusion stands out with remarkable clarity: Chief Samuel Ortom is right.
The persistent persecution of Ortom by the Alia administration appears rooted not in law or justice, but in politics. It reflects an administration that has struggled to convince the people of Benue with its own scorecard and has instead chosen to weaponize the past.
Three years into any administration is far too late to continue blaming predecessors for present failures. At this stage, governance should be measured by results, policies, and impact—not by endless accusations against former office holders.
This is precisely where the Alia administration faces its greatest challenge.
The people of Benue are demanding answers to urgent and painful realities. They want to know why insecurity remains widespread. They want explanations for why thousands of internally displaced persons are still trapped in camps, unable to return to their ancestral homes. They seek clarity on the state of agriculture, road infrastructure, healthcare delivery, and education.
These are the pressing issues that should dominate governance and public discourse.
Instead, the government appears determined to keep Benue permanently focused on Samuel Ortom.
That is not governance.
That is diversion.
Even more troubling is the manner in which the alleged N139.8 billion case has been pursued.
Chief Ortom has consistently maintained that the investigative panels set up against him became subjects of litigation. According to him, the Court of Appeal faulted the process adopted by the lower court, prompting the Alia administration to approach the Supreme Court. Yet, in a puzzling twist, the same government reportedly abandoned that appeal and resorted to fresh panels and media prosecution.
That raises unavoidable questions.
If the evidence against Ortom is truly overwhelming, why abandon the judicial process? Why move from litigation to media trials? Why prosecute through headlines instead of court proceedings?
The answer should concern every believer in democracy and due process.
Justice is established in courtrooms—not in press statements, political rallies, or newspaper headlines.
Equally significant is Ortom’s assertion that throughout his eight years in office, Benue State government accounts were audited annually, submitted to the Benue State House of Assembly as required by law, approved, and published in national newspapers.
This is not a casual defence or a vague denial.
It is a concrete factual claim—one that can be independently verified.
If those audited accounts are fraudulent, then the burden lies on the government to prove that before a competent court of law. If, however, those records are genuine, then the entire propaganda machinery collapses under the weight of its own contradictions.
Allegations are easy to make.
Proof is far more difficult.
What is becoming increasingly obvious is that the Alia administration appears more comfortable investigating yesterday than governing today.
No government can continue campaigning against its predecessor forever.
Sooner or later, leadership must stand on its own record.
Reports indicate that Governor Alia has received over one trillion naira from the Federation Account in just three years, excluding internally generated revenue and other financial inflows.
This naturally raises a more important question:
What tangible value has Benue received in return?
That is the debate Benue people deserve.
Not endless accusations against a government that left office three years ago.
Chief Ortom was therefore justified when he argued that these allegations are strategically designed to divert public attention from the failures of the current administration.
Nothing reinforces that argument more than the timing.
As political calculations for the next election cycle begin to intensify, rather than presenting a compelling scorecard of achievements, the Alia administration appears to be recycling old accusations against its predecessor.
That strategy may generate headlines.
But headlines cannot replace performance.
History has never remembered governments for the accusations they made against others.
History remembers governments for the lives they transformed.
If roads remain poor…
If insecurity persists…
If farmers cannot safely return to their lands…
If displaced citizens remain in camps…
Then no amount of political persecution can alter public perception.
Chief Samuel Ortom is not asking for immunity from scrutiny or accountability. He is simply demanding due process and insisting that all allegations be tested in competent courts rather than in the court of public opinion.
That is not an unreasonable demand.
It is the foundation of justice.
The truth remains simple: governments earn legitimacy through performance, not persecution.
After three years in office, Governor Hyacinth Alia fully owns the record of his administration. He can no longer govern Benue through constant comparisons with the Ortom era.
The era of excuses has expired.
The people are now asking a far more important and unavoidable question:
What have you done with your own mandate?
That is the conversation Benue deserves.
And until that question is convincingly answered, the relentless pursuit of Samuel Ortom will continue to appear less like accountability and more like a deliberate attempt to conceal the failures of the present administration.
