Ortom blames appointees for administration’s troubles

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state yesterday indentified ineptitude by his appointees for the problems his administration is facing in the state.
Ortom, who declared this when he inaugurated 19 chairmen and members of 17 boards and two governing council at the People’s House Makurdi, said most of his appointees failed to explain or enlighten people on issues about his government when criticised wrongly.
He also faulted their approached to issues and “people who seek assistance from them,” noting that “those who approach them for assistance sometimes only need consoling words and not necessarily money.”
Ortom also blamed some of the problems to followership in Benue “which is one of the most difficult states to rule due to attitude of the people towards their leaders.”
“Many people have approached me and asked me to sack my media team for the reason that they are ineffective, but I want to tell you that even if you bring the best journalist to give him the job to manage he will still face the same challenges,” he said.
He told the appointees that they had came to serve at a time that his administration was facing numerous challenges even though the people’s expectations were high.
According to the governor, the implication for them is that they should swiftly deploy their experience to respond to all the challenges and expectations.
“Ours is a call to serve and not to make money. In our administration, no one is allowed to divert public funds into private pockets. Anyone who does that will face severe sanctions. The meager resources of State must be frugally managed to get the best results for the people.
“The need to look inwards, make sacrifices and boost internally generated revenue with which to meet government’s obligations cannot also be overemphasised. Even though we are getting out of recession, the accumulated funding challenges that we have been experiencing over time still make our financial position to be precarious.”