Ortom has broken record as governor with longest unpaid salaries – Presidency

The Presidency has described Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state as a ‘failed politician’ who offers excuses for his state’s challenges, claiming he currently holds the country’s longest record of unpaid salaries and pensions.

The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu stated this in a statement titled “The Incongruence of Governor Samuel Ortom on Arise TV” in reaction to Ortom’s interview on Arise News on January 21, 2022.

The governor, who recently signed the amended Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of 2017 in Makurdi last Thursday lambasted the Buhari regime for the farmer-herder clashes in the state as well as the unpaid salaries of state government workers.

In reaction, Shehu said Ortom had continued to blame the President who didn’t owe federal workers for his woes, instead of raising money to settle unpaid salaries.

The statement read; “There are two types of politicians in Nigeria today. The first are politicians who are leaders that offer solutions to the challenges facing the voters and the country. They bring forward policies and implement them, to improve the lives of others.

“The second, politicians who offer excuses for the challenges voters face. They avoid ideas and instead blame others for problems they have either not solved or have themselves created.

“President Muhammadu Buhari is a leader. He inherited a treasury that successive previous administrations had emptied – and he sought and succeeded in repatriating billions of dollars of stolen funds from overseas. His administration discovered more than 500,000 bank accounts operated by Ministries, Agencies and Departments. In these accounts, the money belonging to the government was kept.

“MDAs are now compelled to use the Treasury Single Account, TSA, domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria. And the President brought forward the first and only plan to address farmer-herder clashes in 100 years, supporting states to rediscover grazing reserves and create ranching lands that have successfully reduced tensions while increasing harmony and saving lives.

“Governor Samuel Ortom, office holder, is that other politician. He inherited unpaid salaries and pension arrears – and rather than find a way to raise funds to pay them, he has blamed the President.”