Former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has disclosed that he approached his successor, Governor Hyacinth Alia, after the 2023 governorship election and offered to work with him for the development of the state.
Ortom said he took the step despite their political differences because Alia had won the election and, as a Christian, he believed that political power came from God.
The former governor disclosed this while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he responded to questions about his strained relationship with Alia and his criticism of the present administration in Benue State.
According to Ortom, he told Alia after the election: ‘Look, you have won. God has made it possible. I’m a Christian, and I believe that power belongs to God. They have given it to you. Let us work together.’
He said he also offered to provide any clarification the new administration might require on the handover notes he left behind after completing his eight-year tenure.
‘Any question you ask me, and the handing over notes I’ve given to you, if there is anything you want me to say, please ask me, I’m ready to present,’ Ortom said.
The former governor, however, said his subsequent criticism of Alia was not motivated by personal hatred, describing the incumbent governor as his younger brother.
‘Alia is my brother. Alia is my junior brother. I have no hatred about him, but I have hatred for what he is doing to Benue State. The deceit, the lies, the hypocrisy that he is doing in Benue State,’ he said.
Ortom accused the Alia administration of failing to fulfil some of its campaign promises, particularly those concerning internally displaced persons (IDPs) and security.
He challenged the governor to account for promises he allegedly made to return IDPs to their ancestral communities within 100 days of assuming office.
‘Check all his promises: ‘100 days, I will take IDPs to their ancestral homes. 100 days, I will do this. 100 days, I will do that.’ Go back and check, has he been able to fulfil one of those things that he told Benue people that he was going to do?’ Ortom asked.
He said insecurity had continued to affect the livelihoods of residents, including his own farming activities, while IDPs and families struggled with healthcare and education costs.
‘There is capital flight in Benue State today, there is several suffering, the IDPs are suffering; we can’t go to the farm. I am now a farmer, I can’t go to my farm,’ he said.
Ortom also rejected criticism that his administration failed to resolve insecurity during his eight years in office, insisting that significant progress had been made before he left office in 2023.
‘Efforts were made to resolve the issue of insecurity. By the time I left office, 90 per cent of the security challenges were resolved,’ he said.
He attributed part of the progress to collaboration with neighbouring states and the community-based security structures established during his administration.
Ortom also defended the state’s anti-open grazing law, saying his administration had adopted ranching as the preferred approach to resolving conflicts between farmers and herders.
‘We were able to find a lasting solution. The global best practice is to stop open grazing, which we made a law in collaboration with traditional rulers, leaders of the state, civil societies, and international organisations that came to support and assist us,’ he said.
He alleged that the decision of the present administration to suspend the implementation of the anti-open grazing law had contributed to renewed insecurity in the state.
‘And it was going on until this government came and suspended the prohibition of open grazing law, and have now allowed open grazing to all parts of Benue State. And that has increased the issue of insecurity,’ Ortom said.
The former governor also disputed claims that the scale of killings during his administration was comparable to the situation under the current government.
When challenged to provide data to support his assertion that killings had increased, Ortom acknowledged that he did not have the figures with him during the interview but maintained that the situation had deteriorated.
‘I don’t have the data here with me, but I want to let you know that what is going on today, the media in Benue State have been suppressed from telling Nigeria what the killing figures are,’ he said.
Ortom further accused Alia of being inaccessible and alleged that members of the state House of Assembly could face suspension for challenging the governor.
‘The man is not accessible. Let me tell you, the governor of Benue State is not accessible. Ask his own appointees, they will tell you that he is not accessible,’ he said.
‘The man is a dictator. He does what he wants. In the House of Assembly, you dare not question what Alia is doing. Once you do that, you are suspended.’
Asked whether he had resolved to work against Alia’s re-election in 2027, Ortom said he had not taken such a position as the outcome of elections ultimately depended on God.
‘I’ve not sworn, I am not God. It is God. John 3:27, the Bible says that power belongs to God,’ he said.
Ortom’s comments come amid growing political tension in Benue State ahead of the 2027 elections, with the former governor maintaining his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while supporting President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the presidency.