Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has told people of the state to forget local government election for now.
The
Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC), had earlier
presented a bill of N1.5 billion for the conduct of the September 3
election to the governor.
Ortom later reduced it to N800 million.
But speaking in Makurdi yesterday, Ortom said “We don’t have money to conduct local government election.”
The
governor explained that the 23 local government councils in the state
were supposed to provide 60 percent of the money required, while the
state would provide 40 percent.
While
Ortom’s reason was based on the economic situation in the state, many
citizens argue that he was scared of of protest votes against the All
Progressives Congress (APC) government over non-payment of salaries for
months.
