20th June, 2023
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Former Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom is currently being grilled at the Markurdi office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The former governor was said to have been invited by the EFCC over allegation of financial misappropriation during his tenure as governor of the State.
Ortom was said to have arrived the commission’s office around 10.00am on Tuesday and has not been allowed to go, as he was still being questioned on the allegation of fraud.
A source at the commission told The Punch that the “Former governor Ortom is currently at our Makurdi zonal office in Benue State.
“He arrived at about 10 a.m. this morning, and he’s still there now. He was invited over an ongoing investigation concerning alleged misappropriation of funds during his time in office.”
Ortom was a two-term governor of Benue State. He began his tenure on 29 May, 2015 and ended it on 29 May, 2023.
He was first appointed governor under the umbrella of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015 and later defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) towards the end of his first tenure.
He managed to win a second term under the PDP. He had always complained of Fulani insurgency in Benue throughout his tenure and has been a strong critic of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ortom’s governorship candidate failed to win the governorship election in Benue as the APC reclaimed the state, with Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia defeating his candidate.
However, calls made to the phone of EFCC’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren by PM NEWS to get the commission’s side of the story, were not picked