I left N187.56bn debt in office, not N359bn – Ortom

A former governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has denied leaving a debt of N359 billion when he exited office in May this year.

Ortom who was reacting to media reports which quoted his predecessor, Governor Hyacinth Alia, as saying he inherited N359 billion debt, challenged the governor to publish a proof.

The former governor, who spoke through his media aide, Terver Akase, on Tuesday, said that the allegation was a mischief levelled against him and his eight years’ administration.

“The present government of Benue State is selling a narrative to unsuspecting people of the state that they inherited N359 billion as debt from the previous government led by Chief Ortom. This narrative is not only false but is also a deliberate stratagem to snooker the people.

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“Governor Ortom was explicit in his handover speech that though the debt situation of the State Government at the time of his exit from office might appear to be on the high side (N187.56 billion), his administration had taken proactive steps to negotiate and ensure significant debt reduction/reliefs leading to Debt Swap Between Benue State and Federal Government as facilitated by the Nigerian Governors Forum. Total Debt Swap for State and Local Government Councils stood at N71.6billion.

“The inflows Benue State was expecting at the time Governor Ortom was leaving office were: (a) Backlog of accumulated Stamp Duties – N48billion, (b) Refund from Debt Swap with Federal Government – N22.95 billion. Total = N70.95 billion. When the negotiated debt swap and the expected inflows are discounted, the State was set to attain a significant debt reduction, bringing down its debt profile to N45.2 billion.

“It should also be noted that owing to the efforts of the Ortom administration, Benue State by May 29, 2023, had outstanding approvals awaiting disbursement from the Federal Government including the balance of Bailout – N41 billion and a N20 billion Central Bank of Nigeria facility. At the same time, the Benue State government was expecting N9 billion as refund on withdrawals for subsidy and SURE-P. The Alia administration is yet to tell the people if it has already received the N9 billion SURE-P funds,” he said.

Ortom added that if the Alia administration wantedthe people to believe its narrative, it should publicly prove that his predecessor left behind N359bn debt.