Benue’s Political Feud: More Than Just Missing Records
MAKURDI — The public spat between former Governor Samuel Ortom and his successor, Governor Hyacinth Alia, is not really about missing handover documents. That is the surface argument. The real fight is about power, blame, and who gets to control the story of Benue State’s troubles.
Ortom did not mince words. He called the probe into his tenure a distraction.
A political tool, he said, designed to hide the current administration’s failures. The former governor’s bluntness suggests he sees the investigation as a weapon, not a routine check. And he has a point.
The probe was launched by Alia’s office, aimed at finding gaps in the records left behind. But Ortom flipped the script.
He accused Alia of “bad governance” and a lack of progress on key issues. He did not list specifics, but the broad swipe signals deep frustration. This is not a simple disagreement between two men.
It is a symptom of a broken handover. Power changed hands, but trust did not. Ortom served his term, then Alia took over.
Now the new governor’s team wants to review what was left behind. That sounds reasonable.
But Ortom’s reaction shows he believes the review is a setup. A way to pin the state’s problems on the previous administration. Both leaders belong to the same political party.
That makes the fight uglier. Internal party conflicts in Benue are nothing new.
The state has seen its share of bitter transitions. But this one is playing out in public, with each side feeding the press. It weakens the party’s image and leaves voters wondering who is telling the truth.
The timing matters. Alia is still early in his term. He needs to show he can govern.
Launching a probe into his predecessor is one way to look tough on accountability. But it also risks looking like a vendetta.
Ortom, for his part, is defending his legacy. He does not want to be remembered as the governor who left the state in disarray. So he fights back.
Where does this lead? Nowhere good.
The investigation will drag on. Each side will leak stories. The public will hear more accusations and fewer solutions.
The real issues — roads, schools, security, jobs — will get pushed aside. That is the cost of this feud. The people of Benue lose while the politicians trade blows.
The fragility of this relationship was already known. Now it is on full display.
A handover probe that was supposed to ensure transparency has become a battlefield. Ortom says it is a smokescreen. Alia’s aide says it is necessary.
Neither is backing down. And with both men in the same party, there is no easy referee.
No neutral ground. This story is not unique to Benue. Nigerian politics is full of such fights.
But it matters here because the state has real problems. A distracted government is a weak government. And a weak government cannot fix what is broken.
The feud is a warning. It tells voters that their leaders are more focused on settling scores than on serving the public.
