Governor Samuel Ortom |
Governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom has alleged that Senator
George Akume offered N88 million (N4 million each) to 22
lawmakers in the state House of Assembly to fast-track his impeachment
over allegation of funds misappropriation and enactment of the grazing
law.
Ortom made the allegation yesterday while speaking with journalists
at the Government House shortly after his state broadcast, where he gave
an update on the crisis rocking the state’s House of Assembly and other
challenges of his administration.
The governor, who noted that the lawmakers had rejected the largesse
and reported the development to him, said after that the plan failed,
the next step now by some forces in the state is to ensure the
unleashing of massive Fulani militia to embark on more devastating
attacks and killings in the state.
“The senator (Akume) held a meeting with the 22 lawmakers in the state assembly and offered each of them N4 million.
“They were under instruction to move a motion of impeachment against
me in order to destabilize the state for not paying salaries and
enacting the grazing law, but the lawmakers rejected the offer and the
report filtered back to me.
“Having failed to achieve their anti-Benue objectives so far, the
next phase is the unleashing of massive Fulani militia to embark on more
devastating attacks and killings in the state. The most unfortunate
aspect is that some sons of the state, including a serving senator
(Akume) have been recruited and mobilized to lead this phase,” he said.
The governor said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
is currently probing the security votes of the state over allegations
of impropriety, but noted that if the commission really wanted to do a
thorough job, they should start the probe from 1999 when Akume was
governor.
“If the EFCC wanted a genuine investigation of security vote
spending, they should have started from the Presidency right across the
36 states. If their focus was on Benue State, they should have started
from 1999.
“But this is not the case. With the enormous security challenges in
the state since my assumption of office, it is surprising that anyone
would expect me to do nothing, but keep the security vote in the safe.
The security vote spending being investigated spans from 2015 to 2018, a
period of grave security challenges in the state,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Disclaimer: Comment expressed do not reflect the opinion of African Parliamentary News