By Charles Adingupu
The outgoing governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom on Sunday handed over a debt of N187 billion to the incoming governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia.
In his speech during the event which took place at the Old Banquet Hall of Government House, Makurdi, Ortom said the N187 billion debt was made up of salary arrears, loans, contractual obligations, and others.
The outgoing governor said a total sum of N734.9 billion accrued to the state throughout his eight years in office but that expenditure and other matters gulped N735.6 billion admitting that the debt situation of the state was on the high side.
He said, “This handover note contained not only structure but activities of my eight years of administration. It has sectoral briefs of the agencies, ministries and departments.
“It contains three volumes; volume one is the handover of all MDAs, volume two comprises policy document of my administration, (the Benue development plan) the part B is the comprehensive briefs submitted by ministries and agencies and part three contained highlights of debt profile and pension.
“The revenue and income from all sources; federation account, Value Added Tax, grants, loans, and others stand at N734.9 billion as of the end of April while the expenditure
stand at N735.6b as of the end of April.
“The Indebtedness of the state which comprises salary arrears, pension, contractual obligations, and others is N187 billion.
The outgoing governor added, “The debt situation of the state might appear on the high side but the government had taken significant steps to reduce this through debt swap with the federal government.
Ortom informed the incoming governor to make use of the opportunities of funds that will soon be available for him such as the backlog of stamp duty and N61 billion loan facilities from the Central of Nigeria (CBN) for smooth take off.
In his brief remarks, the incoming governor appreciated Ortom for the handover.
