{"id":49221,"date":"2021-08-30T16:25:27","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T15:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation"},"modified":"2021-08-30T17:03:41","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T16:03:41","slug":"benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation","title":{"rendered":"Benue govt tasks EFCC to Probe Akume over alleged N2 billion misappropriation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Nigeria<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>The Benue State government has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to probe the current Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume over alleged N2 billion which allegedly \u201cwent missing\u201d during his administration as governor of the state.<\/p>\n

This was contained in a statement issued and made available to DAILY POST on Monday by Terver Akase, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Samuel Ortom.<\/p>\n

The Benue government in the statement lamented the former lawmaker\u2019s constant comments against governor Ortom over the insecurity ravaging the state and the entire nation.<\/p>\n

Senator Akume during a press conference allegedly asked the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Benue and remove Governor Ortom from power following the surge in insecurity.<\/p>\n

Reacting, the state government via the statement, said the briefing was expected, describing it as a campaign against the people of the state.<\/p>\n

The statement reads, \u201cWe read the text of press conference addressed today in Abuja by the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume with other All Progressives Congress, APC leaders from Benue State.<\/p>\n

Ex-Benue Gov, Akume defending Fulani herdsmen to protect his job \u2013 Tiv youths<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had earlier alerted Benue people and other Nigerians to expect the said press conference. It is one in a series of an organized smear campaign against Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs expected, Senator Akume and his group avoided responding to the issues of insecurity in the country which the Governor has repeatedly and rightly accused the Presidency of complicity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe outing of George Akume and others in Abuja was nothing more than a massage on the ego of the Presidency to curry personal favours. As long as he and his group secure their meal tickets, Benue can go to hell. A media attack on Governor Ortom instantly attracts a package from the Villa.<\/p>\n

\u201cAkume and his group must have been under immense pressure to hold the press conference and hurl vituperation against the Governor. This, they had to do to keep their jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leadership of APC in Benue, having lost grip of the party membership in the state with hundreds defecting to PDP every week, now see a window of opportunity to relaunch themselves into relevance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a two-term former Governor of Benue State, it is shocking that Akume is now calling for the declaration of a state of emergency in the state to dismantle democratic structures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it not contradictory that Akume faults Governor Ortom over his statements on the President\u2019s handling of the security situation in the country but goes ahead to brand the Governor as a criminal and sponsor of a militia? We challenge the Minister to provide evidence to back his claim that the Governor is involved in corruption and sponsors militia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recall that when he was Governor, Akume challenged the then President Olusegun Obasanjo for not doing enough to end the Jukun\/Tiv crisis on the border of Benue and Taraba State. He is on record to have confronted President Obasanjo and said uncomplimentary things to the President. Now he finds it convenient to give lectures on respect for hierarchy in government and age.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn his call for a probe, we have no objection to that. Governor Ortom is running a transparent administration and has nothing to hide. We, however, invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to begin their probe from 1999 when Akume became Governor. The N2 billion that went missing at the twilight of his administration is yet to be accounted for.<\/p>\n

\u201cAkume\u2019s utterances in 2019 are still fresh in the minds of Benue people. After the state came under herdsmen attacks and hundreds were killed, he accused Benue people of killing themselves. That the people responded to him by voting him out of the Senate confirmed their anger towards him.<\/p>\n

\u201cLastly, we expected APC to hold the press conference in Benue to test their popularity among the people of the state\u201d.<\/p>\n

Again, Ortom, Akume, Suswam meet over insecurity in Benue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. The Benue State government has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to probe the current Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume over alleged N2 billion which allegedly \u201cwent missing\u201d during his administration as governor of the state. This was contained in a statement issued and made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":49220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28,14,26],"tags":[1570,2140,4044,331,68,254],"class_list":["post-49221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-akume","tag-benue","tag-efcc","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nBenue govt tasks EFCC to Probe Akume over alleged N2 billion misappropriation - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Benue State government has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to probe the current Minister of ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Benue govt tasks EFCC to Probe Akume over alleged N2 billion misappropriation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Benue State government has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to probe the current Minister of ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-30T15:25:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-30T16:03:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/img-612d013eb6ce0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"906\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Benue govt tasks EFCC to Probe Akume over alleged N2 billion misappropriation\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-30T15:25:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-30T16:03:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation\"},\"wordCount\":684,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/img-612d013eb6ce0.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Nigeria\",\"Akume\",\"Benue\",\"EFCC\",\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"Policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/benue-govt-tasks-efcc-to-probe-akume-over-alleged-n2-billion-misappropriation\",\"name\":\"Benue govt tasks EFCC to Probe Akume over alleged N2 billion misappropriation - 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