Benue gov: I have declared state of emergency on payment of salaries

Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, says he has declared a state of emergency on payment of salaries.

Speaking with state house correspondents after meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday, Ortom expressed regrets that workers were owed.

He said efforts were in place to eliminate ghost workers.

“I set up a committee recently and they verified about one-quarter of the workforce in the state and we discovered that within a period of one year, three months, there were fraudulent practices amounting to N1.4 billion. These are things we are going to check,” he said.

“I have declared a state of emergency payment of salary and part of what we are going to do is to do screening along with workers to ensure that genuine workers receive their salaries as and when due.”

Ortom disclosed that he discussed the issue of insecurity in Benue with Osinbajo, and also spoke on the level of progress being made in resolving the conflict between herdsmen and farmers.

“We are on top of the situation and things are calming down, the herdsmen and the farmers are now cooperating,” he said.

“The understanding is that no one should encroach into anyone’s farm whether for cattle breeding or farming activities. Like we keep saying in Benue state, almost all the land is for cultivation.

“So, it’s difficult to talk about grazing. ‎And the herdsmen too, are quite understanding in this regard.

“We’ll soon sign the anti-open grazing bill into law‎ and we look forward that we’ll receive the same cooperation from farmers and herdsmen so that let’s live together as brothers and sisters. We can do it.

“It is achievable to live without strife, fighting and killings. Human life is very precious to some of us and we’ll do everything to protect lives and property in the state.”

He also commended security agencies for the role they played in restoring peace to Benue.

“In fact, the security personnel are at the disposal of the Benue state government any time we make a request, whether the police, DSS, civil defence; they are ready to augment what we have on the ground that alone is a positive result,” he said.

“Benue state would have been worse than what we have today.”