The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has urged the people of the state and other Nigerians to disregard the report that the state government is seeking approval from the state assembly to enable it to access a N10bn loan.
The social media had been awashed with the purported move by Ortom to seek approval of the state House of Assembly to obtain a N10bn loan despite the government inability to offset the workers’ salary arrears in the state.
In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, the governor alleged that the report was being circulated by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress.
Ortom, who denied the report, said the state government had not made such a move and it did not intend to take a N10bn loan.
He said, “This particular lie smacks of frustration and fury within the APC camp to drag the name and office of Governor Samuel Ortom into disrepute having failed in all their previous attempts to remove the governor through illegality and impunity.
“For a party which still controls power at the centre, the APC appears not to understand the role of a governing party and has assumed the role of the opposition.
“The party’s latest false claim that the Benue State Government plans to obtain the alleged loan is the height of desperation by a political party bent on misleading the public.
“We reassure the good people of Benue State that the government has met all requirements set by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the recently recalled Paris Club refund will soon be returned to the state for payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities.”
