The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Ortom

  • Governor Ortom earmarks N1 billion for the payment of gratuity of state workers

     

    Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state has said N1billion has been earmarked for the payment of gratuity of workers in the state from the loan facility being extended to states by the federal government.

     

    He said he had also directed his Finance Commissioner as well as Accountant General of the state to ensure that all pensioners received their pay in the month of December.

     

    The Governor who made this known shortly before signing the 2022 Appropriation Bill in Makurdi regretted that successive governments in the state have had to contend with the challenge of paying pensioners their entitlements.

     

    Governor Ortom said his government had taken steps to finding a permanent solution to the challenge by domesticating the Pension Commission, PenCom, law in the state.

     

    He said, “We are one of the few states that have domesticated the PenCom law which ensures that we make our 10 per cent contributions to the scheme just like the workers and on retirement they get their entitlements.

     

    “This will permanently take care of that challenge and our workers will be happier for it.”

     

    The Governor said following the agreement his government reached with the leadership of pensioners in the state about seven months ago, Local Government Council Chairmen increased the monthly allocation to pensioners from N150million to N300million while the state pensioners had been getting N400million making a total of N700million.

     

    “This is what we have been doing in the past seven months. And since we started that we have not failed.

     

    “As for the state pensioners, because of their large number and funds involved, they have been segmented in two.

     

    “There is the Makurdi office which has large chunk of the pensioners; and there is the outside station like Gboko, Otukpo and others.

     

    “So we have divided them into two, the Makurdi office and the outside station. We agreed with the union that we should be alternating N400million payments between the segments. We have not failed to respect that agreement no matter its implications to the finances of the state.”

     

    “Despite the agreement we had with the leadership of pensioners, I have also directed that for this month of December the Accountant General and Finance Commissioner should get a loan to ensure that all pensioners in the state get paid for December.

     

    “We have also resolved that N1billion of the N18billion loan coming from the federal government should be set aside for payment of gratuity to workers.”

     

    He said the government would continue to prioritize the welfare of its workers and retired senior citizens and appealed for understanding.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.vanguardngr.com

  • Ortom: FG spares fulani herdsmen and goes after Kanu and Igboho

     

    Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has again berated the Federal Government for lack of commitment in tackling the security challenges in Nigeria.

     

    According to the governor, security forces in the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) have demonstrated capacity with the arrest of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu; and Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho.

    Ortom, who spoke on Channels Television’s ‘NewsNight’ programme on Monday, therefore, challenged the Buhari regime to go after bandits and Fulani militiamen killing, raping and kidnapping people all over the country with the same gusto it has used to pursue separatists.

     

    The PUNCH reports that in the last few months, secessionist agitation has been loud in the Southern part of the country, championed mainly by Kanu and Igboho. The agitators cited perceived injustice in the allocation of resources and appointment into critical offices, insecurity, under-development, amongst reasons for wanting to leave the country.

     

    Kanu, who was based in the United Kingdom, was recently hastily extradited from a foreign country. He has been detained in the custody of the Department of State Services and is facing terrorism-related charges before Justice Binta Nyako at a Federal High Court in Abuja.

     

    On the other hand, the secret police raided Igboho’s Ibadan residence in July, killed two of his associates and arrested 12 of them. The DSS declared Igboho wanted after he narrowly escaped the raid. He was, however, intercepted at an airport in Benin Republic while he tried to catch a flight to Germany. The agitator has spent about three weeks in a Beninese custodial facility while the Nigerian Government has been pushing for his extradition.

     

    Many Nigerians have constantly lampooned the Buhari regime for allegedly sparing bandits and terrorists on the rampage in the northern part of the country while security forces clamp down on Igboho, Kanu and other separatists.

     

    Speaking on Monday night as a guest on the television programme monitored by The PUNCH, Ortom alleged that Fulani militiamen have consistently targeted his state because he banned open grazing.

     

     

    The governor said, “I see a lot of lack of commitment on the part of the Federal Government in ensuring that we have security in this country. I will give an example: recently, the Federal Government has demonstrated the capacity by going after Nnamdi Kanu, who was leading IPOB. I am told he was even arrested in a foreign land with the cooperation of Interpol and so on.

     

    “I heard that Sunday Igboho has been arrested. With that kind of commitment, it shows that the Federal Government has the capacity.

     

    “Today, bandits, Fulani militia are terrorising the entire country, the country is in disarray and these Fulani militias have come out with video clips…and they have identified where they are. It was amazing that a top government official comes out to say that the Fulani militias are invisible. How? Are they spirits? Why is the government not going after these Fulani militias and bandits that are terrorising the entire country and terrorising my state?

     

    “Just two days ago, two humanitarian workers were gunned down in my own village by these Fulani militias and their phones taken away. And the Fulani militias took the phones and when one of their (victims’) brothers called, they confirmed that they had killed them and they are in possession of their phones and that they should tell me to repeal the prohibition of open grazing otherwise they have the right to continue to kill since I said there would be no open grazing in Benue State.

     

    “These people who are here, who are calling themselves bandits and are kidnapping our children from school, who are calling themselves Fulani militia and are killing people, driving them from their lands and taking over, why is the Federal Government not going after them like they went after Sunday Igboho and went after Nnamdi Kanu?”

     

    Ortom said over 1.5 million persons have been displaced in Benue State due to the attacks by marauders, adding that the All Progressives Congress administration has failed in all aspects of governance.

     

     

    “APC has failed this country. Is it security, is it economically, politically and socially? Where are we today? We can’t go to our villages. How many Nigerians can move from Lagos to Kano, Abuja to their villages? It is a problem. APC has completely failed, so, why should I go there to join them? To do what?” he queried.

     

    The PUNCH had earlier reported that presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said separatists were not the only ones feeling the maddening heat of the government but bandits and terrorists were also being treated in the language they understand.

     

     

     

     

     

    Sources: www.punchng.com

  • Ortom backs Southern governors on anti grazing laws

    Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Tuesday, described the decision of Southern Governors Forum to enact laws to ban open grazing of livestock in the region as a bold and patriotic move that will bring to an end the lingering crisis caused by armed herdsmen.

     

    The Governor in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, also lauded his counterparts in Southern Nigeria for backing their May 11 Asaba declaration against open grazing with the resolve to legally prohibit nomadic cattle rearing; a resolution which conforms with the global best practice of animal husbandry.

     

     

    The statement read in part, “The Governor also commends the Southern Governors Forum for their position on rotation of the Presidency between the north and south, beginning from 2023.

     

    “Governor Ortom believes that only equity, fairness and justice can strengthen the unity of Nigeria, give all citizens a sense of  belonging and reduce tensions across the  country.”

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Benue State Governor blames President Buhari for ongoing Insecurity crisis

    Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has said President Muhammadu Buhari should be blamed for ongoing insecurity crisis plaguing the country saying he had failed to secure lives and property which he promised in 2015.

     

    Ortom stated this, yesterday, during a tour of some projects embarked upon by his administration in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

     

     

     

    The governor listed as example attempt by the Presidency to review the Land Use Act of 1978 to give ownership of land to the Federal Government and to push for take over of water ways and river banks by the Federal Government, as policies initiated to create crisis in the country.

     

    He vowed that Benue State would reject the planned review of the Land Use Act as it was meant to grab land from the people for open grazing, cattle routes and grazing reserves.

     

    “Mr. President is the one creating insecurity problem in this country. The grazing routes he is advocating will only cause crisis. No room for reviewing land use act and we are not going to allow the review in Benue. I stand with my Commissioner of Education, Prof. Dennis Ityavyar, on what he said that there is land for ranching in Benue. What we are against is open grazing. Our law is still in place and we will prosecute anybody who goes against the law.

     

     

     

    “The only people who can reverse this is Benue people, not even me. That is why I will continue to call on President Buhari to rescind his decision that open grazing must continue in Nigeria. Open grazing is outdated, there is no need for it, and we must ranch our cattle.

     

    “I have maintained that there is land for everyone for ranching in Benue provided they respect the provisions of the law. We have not stopped anybody or tribe from doing business in Benue.

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

  • This Country needs more than just a President that is aloof -Ortom

    Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom on Tuesday lamented the continuous killings in the state by suspected herdsmen.

     

    Speaking on the attack on Abegana village, which house one of the eight designated Internally Displaced Persons’ camps in the state, Ortom said that 70 people had been killed in Makurdi, Guma and Gwer West local government areas.

     

    He said the attack on Abegana IDP camp, where seven people were killed on Tuesday, should make the President, Major General Muhammad Buhari (retd.) to convey security summit to discuss insecurity in the country.

     

    Ortom said, “We are being overstretched and the people are fed up. We all cast our votes for President Buhari. He must not continue to be aloof. He must tell us where we are going in this country. The body language of the President shows that he is the President of the Fulani people.”

     

    Suspected herdsmen attack Abegana IDP camp

     

    Meanwhile, it was gathered that the attack on the Abegana IDP camp was carried out by suspected herdsmen numbering about 10.

     

    One of the victims said the men came in the early hours of Tuesday and killed seven people.

     

    He said six persons were killed on the spot while one person died in hospital.

     

    When our correspondent visited the village, youths had mounted roadblock to protest against the killing of the seven people.

     

    The roadblock was said to have prevented vehicular movement on Makurdi-Laafia Road for several hours before the Ortom ordered its removal.

     

    Victims narrate ordeal

     

    One  of the victims of the attack who was receiving treatment at the state University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi,  David Avese, a father of seven, said he lost one kid to the herdsmen, while three other were  shot.

     

     

    Avese said, “The herdsmen surrounded our village around 12am; they were about 10 in number and they shot and entered people’s houses.

     

    “They killed one of my children and shot three others. I have not seen my wife.”

     

    Another victim, Gwabo Matthew said, “They (herdsmen) operated for over two hours. The attackers were Fulani because they were speaking in Fulfulde language.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com