The former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has accused his successor, Governor Hyacinth Alia, of seizing 23 vehicles allegedly allocated to him by the state government and failing to return them despite a court order.
Ortom made the allegation on Tuesday during an appearance on Arise Television’s Morning Show, where he criticised the Alia administration over what he described as disregard for the rule of law. The former governor said the vehicles were legitimately allocated to him and other members of his administration through the Benue State Executive Council after they had been used for more than four years.
According to Ortom, the vehicles qualified for allocation as used government assets under the state’s existing procedures. He alleged that after leaving office in May 2023, the Alia administration seized the vehicles without communicating with him.
“After I left office, vehicles that were given to me legitimately by the government, this government went and seized them in a manner that was not befitting. No communication was made to me,” Ortom said.
He said he subsequently challenged the action in court and secured a favourable judgment. According to the former governor, the court ordered the Benue State Government to return the 23 vehicles and awarded him ₦5 million in damages.
“I went to court, defeated them, and the court ordered them to pay me ₦5 million in damages in addition to returning the 23 vehicles that were initially seized,” he said.
However, Ortom alleged that the government had yet to comply with the judgment.
“As I talk to you, those vehicles have not been given to me. He hasn’t even appealed,” he added.
The former governor described the alleged failure to comply with the judgment as evidence of what he called the Alia administration’s disregard for the rule of law. Ortom further accused the governor of using government power to witch-hunt political opponents and run down critics.
He explained that the dispute over the vehicles was part of broader concerns about governance in Benue State. While stressing that the Alia administration had failed to adequately engage political stakeholders across party lines.
Samuel Ortom governed Benue State from 2015 to 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party before Alia of the All Progressives Congress succeeded him.
The former governor maintained that the government legitimately allocated the vehicles to him and insisted that the court had already settled the dispute in his favour.
By Musekir Faisat Omolara
