Ortom is desperate to jail me--SUSWAN

Former Governor of Benue State, Dr. Gabriel Suswan, has finally broken the silence over the allegations that he milked the state dry by carting away N107 billion alongside his cronies during his tenure as governor of the state. He said Governor Sam Ortom was just desperate to send him to jail to make the best governor of the state.

Suswan, who spoke in Makurdi, the state capital, said 100% of the Kpojime commission's report asking him to refund such whopping was not only laughable, but also predicated on lies and was intended to rubbish him despite the numerous projects his administration embarked upon during the period.

According to him, the alleged N107 billion was invested in infrastructure , most of which were been put to use by the present administration in the state.

However, reacting to the former governor's comment last week, Governor Ortom's Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, said the former governor was yet to tell the people the truth about the allegation, saying the Kpojime Report was a true reflection of what happened during Suswan's administration as it was done in such a transparent manner that there was nothing confusing there.

Akase added that the commission's report has since been tabled before the Economic and Financial Crime Commision[EFCC], adding that some people have already been arrested in connection with the alleged scam, while others indicted had been invited by the police and the EFCC for interrogation. Our job as government is that we have tabled our matter before security operatives and the law enforcement agencies to look into it and see if truly Benue money have been stolen or not. They are the ones to say that yes, the N107 billion have been stolen from the coffers of Benue State at different times and the next thing to do is to recover this money and bring it back to the coffers of government for development, and that's what Governor Ortom is here to do."