Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia on Wednesday has criticised former Governor Samuel Ortom over his claim that 23 government vehicles allocated to him were seized after he left office.
Ortom had alleged that the vehicles were legitimately allocated to him by the state government and accused the Alia administration of recovering them without due process.
The former governor said he challenged the seizure in court and secured an order directing the state government to return the vehicles and pay him N5 million in damages.
Alia’s Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, made the remark in response to Ortom’s claim that the current state government had seized cars given to him by the state Executive Council at the end of his tenure in 2023.
Responding to the controversy, Alia hit back at Ortom, accusing the former governor of mismanaging the state and questioning the circumstances surrounding the allocation of the vehicles.
Appearing on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Kula said: “These cars were hidden in a mechanic workshop somewhere, and they claimed they don’t belong to Ortom himself. The owner of that workshop took the Benue State Government to court because of this.
“He said the cars were given to him legitimately by the Benue State Executive Council that he was the chairman of, that he always presided over, and appointed members as his commissioners. So, it’s difficult to understand, but then it has opened a vista to understand what Ortom entrenched in Benue State as the governor for eight years.
“This state was practically run around by Ortom. I listened to him when he said the government was concentrating in Makurdi, the state capital, but this is tantamount to the fact.
“The owner of the mechanic workshop was the person who first of all took the government to court. In the first instance, these cars were hidden in a workshop, but it was intelligence from security agencies that some cars were hidden somewhere that led them to invade the workshop, where they discovered these cars.”
The governor’s response has intensified the political dispute between the two administrations, with the controversy now centred on the legality of the vehicle allocation and the circumstances surrounding their seizure.
Ortom, who governed Benue from 2015 to 2023, has continued to criticise the Alia administration, particularly over governance and adherence to the rule of law.
The latest exchange adds to the growing political tensions in the state as both camps continue to trade allegations over the management of public affairs.
