By Former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom says he has won a court battle against the administration of his successor, Governor Hyacinth Alia, over 23 official vehicles allegedly seized from him after he left office, securing an order for their return along with N5 million in damages.
The Court Victory
Ortom disclosed the outcome during a live interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, accusing the Alia administration of using state power to intimidate political opponents and disregard the rule of law.
He said the vehicles in question had been legitimately allocated to him by the Benue State Government during his tenure, only for the current administration to seize them once he left office, in a manner he described as unbecoming.
According to Ortom, he challenged the seizure in court and prevailed, with the court ordering the government to return all 23 vehicles and pay N5 million in damages on top of that.
A Rocky Transition Between Two Administrations
Ortom governed Benue for eight years, from 2015 to 2023, under the Peoples Democratic Party, before Alia won the 2023 governorship election on the All Progressives Congress platform.
Relations between the two administrations have remained tense since the handover, marked by accusations and counter-accusations over the state’s finances, government property, and decisions made during the transition.
Alia’s government had, upon taking office, raised concerns about the financial state of affairs it inherited and how government business had been conducted under Ortom, allegations Ortom has consistently denied while defending the decisions he took while in office.
Ortom Broadens His Criticism
Beyond the vehicle dispute, Ortom used the interview to accuse the current administration of abandoning cross-party political engagement altogether, saying there has not been a single stakeholders’ meeting spanning party lines since Alia took office.
He described the APC-led government in the state as a sham, arguing its conduct runs contrary to basic democratic principles, and characterised it as a government that does not believe in the rule of law, engages in witch-hunts and works to undermine its political opponents.
Background
Ortom’s comments add to a string of frictions between the former governor and the Alia administration since the 2023 handover and come as Benue State finds itself under wider political scrutiny following this week’s separate standoff over Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate Peter Obi’s blocked visit to Yelwata, keeping the state’s political tensions firmly in the national spotlight.
