Governor Samuel Ortom (Right) and former governor Gabriel Suswam (left)
Ortom made this disclosure when he spoke with newsmen at Aso Villa shortly after a close-doors meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The governor added people of the state are keen to know what happened to government’s shares in many companies that were allegedly sold by the immediate past government as well as fund accrued to the state from excess crude oil account.
He explained that he is a firm believer in rule of law that is why he insisting that due process must be followed in the trial of Suswam.
Ortom said: “The law will take its course. We know that just like the Federal Government, my government believes in the rule of law and due process. “The meeting with the president has nothing to do with my predecessor; 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 I am doing just 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 November 9.”
Meanwhile, The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had failed to arraign Suswam for alleged money laundering and corruption charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
According to the EFCC lawyer, the arraignment of the former lawyer will no longer hold as planned.
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