Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has denied media reports that a staff of Makurdi Local government committed suicide over unpaid salaries.
Ortom was reacting to a publication in ‘The Nation’ Newspaper of Monday, January 21, 2019, linking the purported suicide of a staff of Makurdi local government to unpaid salaries.
The governor who described the report as baseless said it was on record that the Benue State Government through the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, has paid salaries of all genuine staff of local governments in the state from January to December, 2018.
Ortom in a press statement signed by the Information Officer, Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ahangba T Ayati, said it was the duty of the Nigerian Police and the relevant security agencies to unravel circumstances surrounding a suicide after investigations and not the journalist.
He stated that the reporter also failed to justify his claim and to clearly state his source of information.
“What he wrote is mere conjecture and speculation. The report is therefore unfair to the deceased, his family and the Benue State Government which it targeted to cast in bad light.
“It also beats the imagination for anyone to think that the alternative to unpaid salaries is suicide. If that was the case and several staff were not paid then all of them should have committed suicide.
READ ALSO: Ortom Swears in Six New Council Chairmen, Two Commissioners
He said the fact that the report did not mention the name of the staff who is said to have committed suicide also indicates that the reporter was not sure of his facts hence the need to generalize.
He appealed to the general public to disregard the report saying its objective was to ridicule the Benue State Government without justification.
“The report is not only false but a smear campaign to tarnish the hard earned reputation of the Governor Samuel Ortom led administration in the State which is workers friendly.
“Governor Ortom, through the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs remains committed to the welfare of the people, especially the workers and will do everything to sustain this commitment,” the statement read.
