The Nation reports that Ortom said this while briefing State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja, on Wednesday, November 4.
The governor stressed that it was the desire of the people to know how Suswam managed their funds and why the current administration met empty treasury.
“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,” the governor said.
When asked about the aim of his visit to Buhari, Ortom said that it has nothing to do with the case of his predecessor.
A few days ago, Ortom advised Suswam to clear his name of allegations of massive looting of government funds during his eight-year tenure.
Reacting to speculation by Suswam that the present administration in the state was behind his trial, the governor called on Suswam to stop blaming anyone for his travails.
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