Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and his estranged godfather, Senator George Akume have engaged themselves in verbal war over state funds.
Daily Trust reports that Akume at a news conference in Makurdi shortly after the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary election accused the governor of mismanagement of state fund and attributed the claim to why salaries were being owed civil servants.
“What has he (Ortom) been doing with allocations and he has not been paying salaries? Where is the money going to? The Benue governor should stop taking us for a joke,” Akume said as he apologised to people of the state for giving them an ‘unfortunate’ governor.
But in a swift reaction, the Special Adviser to the governor on Media and ICT, Tahav Agerzua, has challenged Akume to account for the N2 billion he misappropriated towards the end of his second tenure as Governor of the state.
Agerzua told newsmen in Makurdi on Tuesday while reacting to Akume’s recent outing challenging Ortom to give account of his stewardship.
He reminded Akume to account for the N2 billion he misappropriated at the time of his exit from office in 2007 when he went on to contest for the position of Senate President and failed.
Agerzua advised Benue people to consider Akume as a liquor induced personality who has arrogated to himself powers belonging to God, stressing that the senator was a confused man who while presenting his profile at the Senate chamber contradicted himself by saying he became Governor in 1949 and 1979.
The special adviser further alleged that Akume is jittery because he knows the people of Benue North West are already prepared to retire him from the political scene in 2019.