Ex-envoy faults Ortom’s use of words, remarks on Alia, governance in Benue

By Peter Duru, Makurdi Former Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly and Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Namibia, Terhemen Tarzoor, has faulted former Governor Samuel Ortom over his reported remarks against Governor Hyacinth Alia and his administration urging political leaders to exercise restraint in their public engagements. Tarzoor, who spoke with newsmen in Makurdi, described some of Chief Ortom’s comments during a recent television programme as inappropriate, arguing that political differences should not undermine the dignity of the office of the governor or the people of the state. The former lawmaker, who is also the Benue State coordinator of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors for President Bola Tinubu 2027, said Ortom whom he described as an elder brother he respects, should be more measured in his public statements about the incumbent governor.

“My take is that the former governor should not call the number one citizen 419. He has no right to call him that,” Tarzoor said, reacting to Ortom’s alleged description of Alia as a “419” and a “fake Reverend Father. ” He also faulted Ortom’s reported comparison of the administration of Benue State to a Catholic parish, where priests allegedly collect offerings and spend the money without being questioned, Tarzoor, a Knight of St. John International, defended the Church’s financial management system, insisting that it operates established structures for accountability. “As a Knight of St. John International, I want to disabuse his mind and the minds of people who listened to that programme that there is a high level of accountability in the Catholic Church,” he said. “There is no Catholic priest that can just earn money and spend at ease in the Catholic Church,” he said, adding that political leaders should avoid…