Immediate pas Governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom, has charged his successor, Fr. Hyacinth Alia, to brazen up to the task of governance before him and stop the blame game and needless media wars on his person.
Ortom was responding to series of media attacks on his person and his past administration, from the office of Governor Alia and some leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the last being a comment recently credited to Senator Emmanuel Udende (Benue North East).
In a statement released on Tuesday by the Media Aide to the former Governor, Terver Akase, Ortom advised Alia and his team to fulfill the promises made to the people during the campaigns, saying, he had played his own part and had since left the stage.
The statement reads:
“The attention of the immediate past Governor of Benue State, Chief Samuel Ortom has been drawn to a statement credited to the Senator representing Benue North East Senatorial District, Emmanuel Udende who attributed the continued security challenges in the state to the enforcement of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law by the previous administration.
“In the same vein, the state Governor, Hyacinth Alia, through his media aide, for the umpteenth time, launched unprovoked attacks on Chief Ortom, describing the former Governor in several deprecatory terms.
“His Excellency Samuel Ortom will not board the train of insults with Governor Alia’s aides or partake in a media war with the present administration.
“We advise the government of the state and the Senator representing Benue North East that they were voted to serve the people. If there is any action the Ortom administration took which they consider not good enough, they now have the mandate of the people to do better. Consistently blaming the former Governor will neither solve the problem nor bring development to the state.
“Chief Ortom played his part as Governor of Benue State and has left the stage. Governor Alia and his team should focus on fulfilling their promises to the people”.