Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State on Wednesday insisted that the people of his state want thorough investigation of activities under former governor Gabriel Suswam.
Suswam has gone to court in an attempt to halt the probe of his administration by Ortom.
Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, Ortom said it was the desire of the people to know how the commonwealth of the state was spent, especially as the current administration in the state met an empty treasury.
He said: “I am handling the matter in a legitimate manner. It has to do with the rule of law and due process. I set up two panels, one judicial panel to verify the income expenditure from 2007 to 2015 and also a panel to verify the assets of government, so that we can get things in the right perspective.
“I met a deficit treasury and the people of Benue State want to know what happened with their money, what happened with the SURE-P money, what went wrong with the excess crude money that came to Benue State, what went wrong with the shares of government in various corporations that were sold, where did the money go? These are questions that are begging for answer, which the people of Benue State told me to verify and am doing that.
“My predecessor went to court and stopped the process with an injunction and we have also made our facts known to the court and we are waiting for a judgment on the 9th. But after verification I believe that I will ensure due process in handling the matter”.
Ortom, however, denied that his discussion with the president centered on Suswam’s case.
