Farmer Samuel Ortom, the immediate past governor of Benue State, has alleged that Governor Hyacinth Alia’s administration seized 23 vehicles that were “legitimately” allocated to him by the state government after he left office.

Ortom made the allegation on Tuesday during an interview on Arise Television’s Morning Show, saying he challenged the seizure in court and won, with the court ordering the Benue State Government to return the vehicles and pay him N5 million in damages.

Ortom, who made the allegations during the television interview, accused the Alia administration of engaging in what he described as a “witch-hunt” against political opponents, saying the vehicles were taken without any communication to him.

“After I left office, vehicles that were given to me legitimately by the government, this government [Alia administration] went and seized them in a manner that was not befitting,” Ortom said.

“No communication was made to me. I went to court, and we defeated the government. And they were asked to pay me N5 million in addition to returning the 23 vehicles they took away from me, which were legitimately given to me by the government.”

The former governor further accused the Alia administration of sidelining stakeholders from state affairs, alleging that no stakeholders’ meeting involving political parties had been held since the governor assumed office.

Ortom also alleged that Alia recently directed traditional rulers not to receive him when he visited his kinsmen to inform them about his wife’s senatorial ambition.

The former Benue governor said local government chairmen in the state had yet to gain control of their funds despite the Supreme Court’s ruling on financial autonomy for local governments.

He also maintained that the vehicle controversy was an example of what he described as the administration’s disregard for the rule of law and due process. According to Ortom, the vehicles had been legitimately allocated to him by the State Executive Council after they had been in use for more than four years.

Ortom said he had not received the vehicles despite the court decision, alleging that the state government had not appealed the judgment.

Alia, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), succeeded Ortom as governor on May 29, 2023, after defeating Titus Uba, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate backed by the former governor.

The allegations form part of Ortom’s broader criticism of the Alia administration, which he accused of undermining democratic principles, running down political opponents and failing to sufficiently engage political and traditional stakeholders in the affairs of the state.