The Benue State Government has described former Governor Chief Samuel Ortom’s call for a public debate with Governor Hyacinth Alia as a desperate attempt to divert attention from accountability issues surrounding his administration.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, by Sir Tersoo Kula, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Alia, the government noted that it is ironic for Ortom who had previously constituted a Commission of Inquiry to probe his predecessor, Senator Gabriel Suswam to now oppose a similar scrutiny of his own tenure.
The statement highlighted the challenging state of affairs inherited by the Alia administration, including seven months of unpaid salaries for state workers, eleven months of salary arrears for local government workers and teachers, over 76 months of unpaid pensions and gratuities, and a heavy debt burden. It referred to Ortom’s eight-year tenure as the “Years of the Locusts,” marked by propaganda rather than effective governance.
The press release defended the current administration’s performance, citing key achievements such as the revitalization of the Benue Fruit Juice Company, the establishment of a world-class Fashion Hub, the commencement of production at the Food Basket Brewery, major road interchanges in Gboko and Makurdi, extensive erosion control projects in Makurdi, and other infrastructural developments across the state.
Governor Alia’s team emphasized that governance is about service delivery and not media trials or personal vendettas, urging Ortom to embrace accountability while the present administration focuses on clearing the inherited mess and building a better Benue for all.
