The Pivotam news

HON MATO COMMENCES BOREHOLE PROJECTS IN VANDEIKYA AND KONSHISHA: A SIGN OF MANY GOOD THINGS TO COME

By Terfa Naswem

The member of the House of Representatives for Vandeikya/Konshisha Federal Constituency of Benue State, Rt. Hon. Mrs. Dorothy Mato has begun making tremendous impact on her constituency by awarding contract for boreholes to be sunk in various council wards across Vandeikya and Konshisha Local Government Areas which have been completed in Konshisha LGA and will kick-off in Vandeikya LGA this week. Once completed, would be commissioned for use by her constituents.

Rep Mato believes that water is life and as a result, her constituents deserve clean and accessible water for their health and the environment.

The projects began in Konshisha and will be completed in Vandeikya.

Mr. Daniel Ingbar, one of the Media Aides to Rep. Mato who was at the sites on March 29, 2018 reports that from Jov Mbavaa to Agberagba rolled to Awajir rounding up at Gbinde in Mbagusa-Mbatser, konshisha LGA, fast borehole drilling machine has completed four for the people.

Elders at Gbinde, Mbagusa/Mbatser on March 29, 2018 gathered round the borehole in jubilation and said that it is a sign of many good things to come to the constituency. They prayed for Rep Mato for God to direct her path. The eldest person Andyar Shagba joined by Andy Waya and Tyosenda Apaa said for remembering the people of her constituency, God will also remember her in all her desires.

Issues To Ponder As Suswam Honours EFCC
Invitation
By Philip Agbese
Immediate past Benue state governor, Gabriel
Suswam is on Monday October 12, 2015 honouring
an invitation at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Of course,
considering the nuances of contemporary politics
in Nigeria, Suswam’s detractors now have handed
to them on a platter of gold the opportunity they
craved for the entirety of the period he held sway
as the governor of the “Food Basket of the Nation”. Consequently, hounds will bay for blood in our
modern equivalent of bear-baiting. Accounts of the
EFCC invitation would be distorted beyond
comprehensible measure while the true accounts of
the service the former governor rendered to Benue
state would be the subject of a smear campaign. The public would be fed lies as those who are
intent on exacting their pound of flesh for
whatever reason would resort to the extreme to
distort facts and make fiction sound like reality.
They will attempt to take attention away from the
real economic condition under which the Suswam administration operated.
Delayed payment of salaries, which was a problem
the administration struggled with would be
highlighted to dwarf the other remarkable
achievements of this perfect gentleman.
However, without prejudice to the way the anti- corruption executes it mandate, it is important that
issues are put in the proper perspective. Like the
annual budget presentations by federal, states and
local governments, EFCC invitations to former public
office holders have now become a statutory ritual
that has become almost automatic to the extent that it could now be included as a legal requirement
or policy that whoever held a public office must at
the end of his tenure report to the commission for
an interview or debriefing.
This suggestion could at the very least help take the
wind out the sail of mischievous elements that constantly create the erroneous impression that an
invitation by the anti-graft agency necessarily
means guilt. It bears repeating that an invitation by
the EFCC does not amount to an indictment, an
indictment does not always means being charged
or arraigned before a court, and being charged to court does not mean guilt or conviction.
It is the shenanigans of these mischievous elements
that had served to tarnish the image of the EFCC by
portraying it as political tool in the hands of an
incumbent government for hounding opponents.
They further deepen this wrong notion once they begin to peddle a guilty verdict the moment a
former public office holder is invited to assist the
EFCC in its investigation. The consequent outcomes,
the most common being the former public official
returning to mind personal business once they are
done rendering the necessary assistance to the commission’s investigation, further creates the
impression that the anti—graft agency is not on top
of its game. These elements care nothing about
how this affect the national psyche or the image it
paints for the nation outside our shores provided
they have succeeded in tarnishing the image of their intended victims.
Perhaps, this wrong trajectory originated
sometimes in 2006 when the erstwhile EFCC
Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu verbally indicted as many
as 33 of the 36 then state governor while
appearing before the senate. By 2007 when these governors had left office and
no longer enjoy immunity, which he had claimed
was hampering arrest and prosecution, the list of
those that could be arrested had dropped to just 15
governors and curiously his successor, Mrs Farida
Waziri, could not find case files on the said indicted governors. Thus till date, only former Edo governor,
Lucky Igbinedion entered a plea bargain and paid
the necessary fine that confirmed his guilt.
His neighbour and former governor of Delta state
was jailed in the United Kingdom for corruption too.
This leaves one asking what happened to the other 31 one governors among the 33 verbally indicted.
What happened was that they served at a time
when the public consciousness had not matured to
distinguish what differences exist when we talk
about an invitation to assist EFCC investigation,
indictment, arrest and conviction. As our democracy matures and institutions and
their operatives grow competence, we now see
fewer unnecessary arrests and hounding of people
using public institutions. What has not happened is
the enlightenment needed among the populace to
put these issues in perspective. Former Benue state governor, Garbriel Suswam
thus has a unique opportunity to again blaze the
trail, as has always been the case with him, by using
this invitation to appear before the EFCC as an
avenue to educate the public – particularly the
people of the state on what he achieved in the eight years he was in service of his people.
He was quiet about his trail blazing achievements
while in office as he will always stress that there
was no need for one to blow one’s trumpet as this
is an activity that is best left to the end beneficiary of
his many lofty programmes to do. The closing years and months of his administration
were characterised by what could be described as
failure when it come to the payment of salaries.
Some of those insisting that he has a case to answer
before the EFCC are basing their call for his
investigation on that assumption that payment of salaries was delayed because there was
embezzlement. However, nothing can be farther
from the truth.
Osun, Kogi, Imo and Oyo states are among the
states that were having difficulties paying staff
salaries just like Benue state under Suswam. In fact, a federal government bailout package to these
states has not been enough to take them out of the
financial strait in which they found themselves. For
reasons that are best understood by those who
should know, the governors of these states are not
being dragged before the EFCC. When Suswam keeps the appointment with the
EFCC on Monday, he must therefore remind
operatives of the anti-graft agency about his
achievement, he must not omit to mention how the
fallout of global events affects even the smallest
village in Benue state. Few people recall today that the global economic
crises of 2008 struck when Suswam was barely
into his first term and fewer people comprehend
that his second term operated in the shadows of
threat of a another global economic slowdown,
which largely left governments at all levels struggling to deliver on critical services. This of
course explains the reality of having to prioritize
spending with the resulting outcry that political
opponents latched onto without recourse to logic.
The sequence of events since his successor
resumed office has exposed the true nature of things as even the incumbent government now
realise that the funds accruing to the state are
simply not enough.
He is no longer in office and is not running for any
office at this point and should harbour no inhibition
in recounting the numerous things he has done for the state even in the face of the economic crunch
that spanned the entire duration of his
government. It somehow came down to paying
salaries regularly without developing public
infrastructure in the state and without executing
projects aimed at growing the state’s economy. For instance, agriculture received massive boosts
from his administration such that the state
continued to secure its acclaimed place as the food
basket of the nation. A lot of value was added to
the agricultural sector, which enabled the state to
tackle the problem of youth unemployment as various opportunities were created for youths not
just to gain employment but further making some
of them to become entrepreneur and employers.
Healthcare received a boost under Suswam’s
government in a unique approach that ensured
that the revitalising of health facilities was not limited to urban areas but instead was spread
across the state. Rehabilitation of educational
infrastructure equally enjoyed state-wide
distribution so that pursuit of quality education was
no longer a factor for urban rural migration.
Another great achievement of the Gabriel Suswam led administration is the way he set out the
foundation for industrializing the state. He actively
sought out foreign investors, an activity that saw
him embark on several foreign trips to woo those
who have the financial resources to inject into the
state’s economy. The other leg of this particular activity was hosting these potential investors in the
state at events he used to unveil the incentives the
state has packaged for those who commit
resources to its economic growth.
Of course this is matched by the world class
economic infrastructure like roads that are meant to be the driver for the industries to be established in
the state.
The threat to all these people oriented
engagements would have been insecurity –
ranging from communal clashes to farmer/herders
clashes that not only cause loss of lives and property but also threatened the image of Benue
state as an investment destination. Suswam moved
to counter these problems and ensured that they
were brought under control. Certainly, critics would
point out that he got security vote as governor and
one must answer that these crises were precisely what made the state’s spending on security
astronomical.
When Suswam does the nation and Benue state the
favour of using this EFCC invitation to recount his
stewardship, the inquisitiveness of the interested
parties to our national life would have been satisfied. With this, Nigerians would perchance
begin to have a true appreciation of these issues on
account of their new understanding.
Agbese is a public affairs commentator and
contributed this piece from the United Kingdom

JUST BREAKING:
SUSWAM BACK HOME AFTER SUCCESSFULLY
ANSWERING QUESTIONS AT EFCC.
By Bemgba Iortyom.
Immediate past governor of Benue State, Gabriel
Torwua Suswam, who was today a guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC),
has just returned to his Abuja residence after
honouring an invitation there.
Sources reveal that Rt. Hon. Suswam successfully
answered questions bordering on his eight year
tenure as governor of the state, after which he returned home in the company and welcome of a
large crowd friends, supporters and well-wishers.
The former governor is said to be in high spirits and
has assured his supporters that he has nothing to
fear from any agency of government, as he
executed his mandated tenure of office in all good conscience, always putting the best interests of the
people of the state above every other consideration
in the policy formulation and ex*****on of his
administration.
Meanwhile, Chief Judge (CJ) of the state, Justice
Iorhemen Hwande, earlier today at a High Court sitting in Makurdi, ordered a stay of proceedings to
the probe initiated by the Ortom-led administration
against the Suswam administration, which is being
conducted by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry and
an Administrative Commission of Inquiry.