Governor Samuel Ortom took the oath of office for a second term with political observers arguing that only a cabinet of people with capacity to deliver will possibly see to his success, writes AVIASHIMA TOOM.
“Better is the end of things than the beginning thereof.” This faith based slogan, which is Governor Samuel Ortom’s favourite will be put to test as he begins his second term in office in Benue State. Ortom in his inaugural speech admitted the fact that not much was achieved in his first four years. He attributed this to certain factors which he listed to include over bearing of external influence, insecurity as well as paucity of funds.
In 2015, Governor Ortom identified five key areas, which according to him were going to be tackled headlong on assumption of office. The five-point agenda as unveiled by the governor was primarily aimed at building a private sector based economy that will in turn encourage small, micro and medium scale enterprises, trading as well as commercial investment activities.
Ortom also promised among other things to wipe out the evils of thuggery and corruption that had bedeviled the state.
Findings have, however, indicated that the governor has not been able to match his words with action with regards to implementing the well conceived five-point agenda in his first four years.
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Not much, according to political observers, has being achieved in key sectors of the state’s economy, while the evils, hitherto identified by the governor, notably thuggery and corruption have also not been decimated. But, some political watchers who spoke to this medium attributed the near failure of the administration in its first four years to the lack of political will on the part of his appointees in driving his vision to the coast of reality.
They held that most of his appointees in his first tenure were nominated by his former leader, Senator George Akume while he was still in the All Progressives Congress, APC. Most of the appointees, it was further gathered worked at cross purposes with the ideologies of his administration. Some of the appointees according to investigation also leaked sensitive and classified government information. They also pledged their allegiance and loyalty to Senator Akume instead of to the governor.
These factors, it was believed, created invisible cracks within the administration while cohesion and team work among key players of government also suffered severe setback.
While admitting these factors, Ortom after he was declared winner of the 2019 election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said his administration was held hostage by certain forces within his former party. He declared that there were no more godfathers, adding that he was in a better position to drive the state to the next level in terms of development.
Though the governor insisted that certain forces were behind his near failure in his first four years, others who spoke to this medium said the governor’s appointees, most of who never reached out to their people in terms of welfare, also contributed largely to his seeming abysmal performance.
The governor’s claim that he does not have a godfather would be put to test when he begins his round of appointments. Already, the appointments he made few days to his inauguration, including the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Mr. Tony Ijoho and the Chief of Staff, Terwase Orbunde may be pointing towards the opposite direction. All his former appointees, who served in the same capacities in his first four years, are returning, while the newly appointed Commissioner 1 into the state Civil Service Commission, Mr. Terka Mamwo is believed to be a close associate of former governor Gabriel Suswam.
These appointments, according to political observers, clearly pointed to those who may possibly play the role of godfathers to the governor in his second tenure.
While Ortom allegedly appointed the chief of staff on his personal conviction and their long lasting relationship, the SSG, according to findings, was re-appointed owing to pressure from former senate president, Ioryorchia Ayu, one of the notable political leaders in the state, just as Mamwo was appointed based on the endorsement of Suswam.
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As Ortom begins another tenure, there seems to be palpable tension among the people as to the calibre of people he will choose to assist him pilot the affairs of the state in the next four years. There seems to be a general consensus that those who served previously in his administration should not return. Those who hold these views are of the opinion that most of them often performed below average in their various places of assignment as they could not marshal out a clear cut policies that would have tended to add value to the administration.
To others, the governor should at this point in time look beyond political patronage with a view to appointing people with requisite capacity to assist in driving his vision in his second term. Technocrats and professionals, they insisted, should be injected into the administration if the governor intends to achieve greater success.
Governor Ortom, according to findings, is desirous of leaving Benue better than he met it, having declared severally that he was confident of a sound ending even in the face of daunting challenges.
The governor in his inaugural speech harped on probity and accountability, which he insisted were the core values of public service. Towards achieving this, Ortom informed that his administration has domesticated the Treasury Single Account, TSA, with a view to blocking leakages and the process according to him will ensure accountability.
This, he noted, will make for an improvement in Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, for the state, pledging that more monies could as a result be prudently channelled towards development.
But, can Ortom weather the storm in the aspect of godfatherism and undue external interference to focus on the full implementation of his lofty agenda for Benue people in his second tenure?
Keen political watchers are of the view that only his first tranch of appointments will possibly provide answer to these questions.