By Samson Ochono
Since taking office on May 29, 2023, Governor Hyacinth Alia has been working to erode the political and economic base of his predecessor, Samuel Ortom, for reasons that are not publicly clear.
It began with the illegal invasion of the premises of an automobile workshop belonging to an associate of Chief Ortom where the governor’s team carted away vehicles belonging to the former governor and other private individuals, claiming that the cars belonged to the state government.
But even if all the vehicles were to be owned by Ortom, how is it a crime for a governor who spent two terms of 8 years to have some vehicles for his private use? Was Alia expecting Ortom to trek out of Government House after handing over to him?
Soon after he was sworn in, Governor Alia began to inaugurate committees upon committees with an evil mission to nail Ortom with trumped-up charges. The government has refused to back down even as there is no evidence to prove that Ortom looted the state treasury while he was at the helm of affairs.
The governor has reportedly sponsored numerous petitions written to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC) to implicate Ortom for alleged corruption and financial malfeasance, just so they can get the ground they desperately need to send him to jail. Does the governor have anything to prove that Ortom embezzled money? I doubt it.
Only last week, the Benue State government took another step in its unwarranted war against Ortom by sealing the premises of his private business, Oracle Business Ltd for alleged tax default. This development came barely days after a group uncovered plans by Governor Alia to cripple Ortom’s businesses and investments in the state.
It is true that Ortom is the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Benue State, and anyone desperate to unsettle the party in the state must ordinarily target him. But who says the best strategy to weaken PDP in Benue State is to frustrate the business concerns of the party’s leader? Could it also be that Governor Alia has included Ortom on the list of those he has chosen to keep fighting to cover up for his inability to fulfill his campaign promises?
While I sense jealousy and vendetta in Alia’s desperation to destroy Ortom’s investments in Benue, as some of the governor’s aides and foot-soldiers earlier boasted, Alia needs to remember that Ortom established most of his investments long before he became the governor of Benue State. So anyone who wants to scuttle the progress of those ventures just because they don’t like the former Governor are agents of darkness.
The question now is; what happens to the thousands of young men and women who are employed by Oracle Business Ltd and are breadwinners of their families? Will the government provide jobs for them?
Ortom could have easily located those companies in other parts of the country, but he chose to locate them in Benue so as to contribute his quota to employment generation in the state. Shutting down the companies is therefore a disservice to the families whose children are working in the affected enterprises rather than to Ortom as an individual.
Let me even assume without conceding that Ortom’s businesses owe taxes, which need to be paid. What has Alia’s administration been doing with revenues accruing to the state both internally and externally if not extravagant spending on frivolities without recourse to due process and established procurement procedures? He has refused to clear the arrears of salaries and pensions, despite receiving multi billions from the federal government.
That Ortom has decided to stay back in Makurdi after his tenure and has not considered creating problems for the Alia-led administration in the state even in the face of provocations is enough reason to allow the man to enjoy his private life out of government peacefully. Chief Ortom is no doubt a popular politician in Benue State and Nigeria at large with a cult-like followership, so one can understand the source of Alia’s petty jealousy towards the former governor.
It is rather unfortunate that Ortom who served his state diligently, with the fear of God and has been in the forefront of creating jobs for thousands of youths in the state has become the target of envy, bitter politics and pull him down syndrome orchestrated by a supposed man of God.
It is imperative for Governor Alia to know that there is more to politics and governance than hounding down opposition and dissenting voices. Governor Alia also has to remember that power is transient and he too shall be out of government someday; so he has to be cautious of the steps he takes now.
For Chief Ortom, I must commend him for his maturity and statesmanship by remaining calm, apparently due to his clear conscience as he has nothing to fear. It is also commendable that Ortom has always made it clear that he is available to answer any question bordering on his stewardship when he held sway between 2015 and 2023, if the inquiry is conducted without bias, prejudice and injustice.
Ochono writes from Apo, Abuja.
