suswam
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has insisted that his predecessor, Gabriel Suswam, must face trial.
The governor said he met an empty treasury and the demand by people of the state was that Suswam must give account of his stewardship between 2007-2015.
Ortom spoke with State House correspondents shortly after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed-doors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, the people of the state were eager to know what happened to government’s shares in many companies that were sold by the immediate past government; the SURE-P funds as well as the excess crude money that accrued to the state under Suswam’s administration, among others.
He said, “The law will take its course. We know that just like the Federal Government, my government believes in the rule of law and due process.
“The meeting with the president has nothing to do with my predecessor, I am handling the matter in a legitimate manner. It has to do with the rule of law and due process.
“I set up two panels; one judicial panel to verify the income and expenditure from 2007 to 2015 and also, a panel to verify the assets of government so that we can get things in the right perspective.
“I met a deficit treasury and the people of Benue State want to know what happened with their money; what happened with the SURE-P money, what went wrong with the excess crude money that came to Benue State, what went wrong with the shares of government in various corporations that were sold, where did the money go?
“These are questions that are begging for answer, which the people of Benue State told me to verify and I am doing just that.
“My predecessor went to court and stopped the process with an injunction and we have also made our facts known to the court and we are waiting for a judgment on November 9.”
Comments