The Presidency has described Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom as a politician who offers excuses for his state’s challenges while blaming others for problems he has either failed to solve or has created.
In a piece released on Tuesday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, reacted 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 President Muhammadu Buhari for the farmer-herder clashes in the state as well as the unpaid salaries of state government workers.
In its piece, titled ‘The incongruence of governor Samuel Ortom on Arise TV,’ the Presidency maintained that Ortom, who currently holds the country’s longest record of unpaid salaries and pensions, “has absolutely no reason to blame President Buhari for the mess in which he put his state and its workers.”
It 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.”
The Presidency asserted that Buhari has not failed to pay the salary of those working for the Federal Government and declared the failure of states to do so “a national disaster.”
