Samuel Ortom, the immediate past governor of Benue State, has responded to reports that a detachment of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials has been dispatched from Abuja to arrest him.
According to an unconfirmed report that circulated mostly on social media, EFCC officials arrived in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Sunday night.
The report states that the EFCC was working on an invitation from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State.
According to the report, “the plan is to use EFCC to arrest Governor Ortom as soon as he loses immunity today (29th May 2023) and take him to Abuja where he will be later transferred to Lagos and tortured severely.”
The report also went further to reveal that: “A team of EFCC officials was covertly deployed from Abuja to Benue State, yesterday, the 28th of May, without the knowledge of the commission’s Makurdi office who they feared might leak the plot to Governor Ortom.
“The team was reportedly given the express mandate to invade Ortom’s house and ransack the residence to pick him up.”
Reacting to the report, Ortom’s media aide, Terver Akase, said there was no cause for worry as his principal has nothing to hide.
A statement by Akase said: “We read some online reports which stated that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has deployed a team of its officers to Benue State to arrest and detain the immediate past Governor of the State, Samuel Ortom over unfounded allegations.
“While we doubt the authenticity of the reports, it is pertinent to state categorically that His Excellency Samuel Ortom has nothing to hide and will be available if and whenever the EFCC invites him.
“Governor Ortom has repeatedly said that he ran a transparent administration and is willing to honour the invitation of any anti-corruption agency that wants to get clarifications on operations of his administration.”
Ortom, on Sunday, 28th May 2023 presented his handover notes to the new governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Allia at the Old Banquet Hall, Makurdi, having served as Governor of Benue State for eight years.