Dr Samuel Ortom, Governor of Benue State in the North Central geopolitical zone of the country, has disclosed that his state received N2.7 billion from the bailout fund which President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved for states in the federation.
He made the disclosure on Thursday at a meeting with second class chiefs at Och’Idoma’s palace in Otukpo.
Governor Ortom explained that although the money was not enough to pay the salaries of the state’s workers for a month,with overhead he would source for more funds to augment this to pay their salaries and pensions.
He maintained that the state currently has a monthly wage bill of N3.7 billion including overheads noting that apart from the bailout, the state government would improve on its internal revenue sources to enable it sustain payment of salaries and pensions.
Governor Ortom said the wage bill was bloated hence his directive for a staff audit to determine the true staff strength.
He said the exercise was not intended to witch hunt anybody but to block leakages and ensure accountability in the management of resources. In a related development, Gov.Ortom has explained that appointments made by his administration so far have taken the interest of all sections of the state into consideration by ensuring that they are fair and just.
He made the disclosure at a meeting with Idoma second class chiefs at the Och’Idoma’s palace in Otukpo in continuation of his meetings with traditional rulers across the state.
According to the Governor, the appointments were made in consultation with stakeholders in line with the administration’s philosophy of fairness, equity, justice and due process all aimed at reducing acrimony in the polity.
He said no section of the state has monopoly of holding onto a particular position for too long pointing out that it was in such light that the position of Secretary to the State Government was moved to Benue North West Senatorial District, while the State Head of Service went to Benue South in addition to five commissionership slots while the other senatorial districts had four each.
The Governor said that Benue North East has five advisers, while North West Senatorial District has four, and South six.
He therefore appealed to the people of the state to see rotation of appointments and other decisions of government as part of the change Nigerians had fought for and restated the commitment of the administration to the welfare of the people especially on the issue of payment of salaries, pensions and provision of critical infrastructure.
He also pledged to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and boost the state’s economy.
Governor Ortom who was accompanied by the state’s Deputy Governor, Engineer Benson Abounu, called on the Idoma Area Traditional Council to collaborate with the administration to tackle the security challenges in the state especially in their domain.
He commended the Och’Idoma for remaining nonpartisan and admonished all royal fathers in the state to eschew partisan politics.
In his remarks, the Och’Idoma, Dr Elias Ekoyi Obekpa, stated that the people were more concerned with the provision of good governance than appointments which he said they were not complaining about.
He commended Governor Ortom for finding one of their sons, Engineer Abounu worthy to be his Deputy.
The Och’Idoma who expressed confidence that all the problems confronting the administration were surmountable, promised that they would continue to pray for him to succeed and that on their part they would remain nonpartisan in dealing with the people.
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