A group, Benue Coalition for Justice, Equity and Fairness (BCJEF), has condemned the ongoing probe of the former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam by the Samuel Ortom-led administration.
Reacting to the probe panel set up by the state governor to probe Suswam’s administration, the group stated it is disheartening that pressing issues of governance have been jettisoned in the state in preference for a witch-hunt.
A statement issued in Abuja yesterday and signed by the National President of BCJEF, Peter Hwande, and it's secretary, Ogbole Alechenu, stated the desperation of those behind the probe was such that they could not wait for the outcome of the panel before hurriedly dragging Suswam to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The statement said: “Governor Ortom would have settled down to the serious business of governance if he had genuinely secured the mandate of Benue people and not on the strength of the card reader machine that allocated him and his associates votes in the last elections.
“It is clear from the onset that the probe is inconsequential and inconsistent with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and hence the need for Suswam to challenge the action in court.
“The fact that the probe cannot withstand judicial scrutiny and the fore knowledge of the impending moral defeat of efforts to persecute Suswam through that ill-conceived agenda was what forced these characters to resort to using the EFCC in the hope of massaging their ego.
“We see both the probe and the contrived EFCC invitation as related actions that expose the desperate attempts by the selfish godfathers in Benue State, who see the state treasury as their cash cow, as they struggle to keep attention away from their recent expenditures that have outraged even their own fan base.”