By 
The Tiv Youth Council Worldwide has expressed pain that eight years of the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom have gone down the drain without any symbolic achievement.
The group noted that the governor’s defeat in the recently held Benue North senatorial poll spoke volumes of the people’s resentment to his stewardship while at the helm in the state.
The group said this in a birthday message to the governor signed by its President, Mike Msuaan yesterday in Abuja.
“This is a clear indication that the Benue people did not see you in such borrowed robes and the moment an opportunity cropped up, they rejected you. The celebration that has greeted the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state is a clear testimony. Benue people feel they have been set free from king Pharaoh and Egypt,” it noted.
The youth group also faulted the claim by the outgoing governor that the recurring farmers/herders clashes were responsible for his inability to deliver democracy dividends in the state.
It further remarked that such excuses could not hold water since his peers in Borno and Kaduna states that suffered consistent and devastating terrorist attacks were able to commission many legacy projects.
The group said: “How many Federal projects have you attracted to the state? Not even one your Excellency. The numerous federal projects in the state are as a result of Mr President’s magnanimous disposition and the efforts of the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume.
“You have failed as governor of the state and failed woefully as leader of your party. I put it to you that the humiliating defeat and devastating loss of the PDP in the state is simply because of you. The Benue people rejected and revolted against you solely. Never in the history of the state has such ever happened. Your predecessor, Senator Suswam did not suffer such rejection.
“The margin of win between the winner and candidate of the APC, Rev. Fr Hyacinth Iormem Alia and your allegedly imposed candidate, Titus Uba is such that has never been witnessed in the past. This was possible because the people felt they were voting against you.
“Just when one thought you will begin a remorseful self-examination and begin to seek forgiveness, you introduced a pension bill for yourself aimed at paying you huge sums of money and other benefits.
“But you have treated pensioners with disdain. Protests by pensioners whose only crime is to have served the state meritoriously and to have you as governor within these years has become almost a daily occurrence in the state. Workers are worse off. The Civil service has been annihilated under your watch.
“Your government has no life, it could best be likened to a rocking chair, making all the noise without any significant movement. Not even a single problem that you met or that cropped up under your tenure has been solved.
“Very disturbing is the number of people in IDP camps. You will be leaving more people in IDP camps than any administration before you. There has been no concerted effort from you to rehabilitate, resettle and return these people to their ancestral land.”
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