The Benue State Governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswam, on his return from an overseas trip, answered questions from journalists in the state on sundry issues including his recent trip to South Korea, allegations of impropriety leveled against him by a citizen of the state in an open letter, as well as the state's preparedness for the forth coming national sports festival.

The essence of the trip to South Korea

The essence of my trip was to renew, among other things, a long standing relationship that has existed between Benue State and South Korea. You will recall that back in the eighties the late Governor Aper Aku, went to South Korea and the product of that was the Lobi Bank which was formed with the Korean Nexim Bank and then the government of Benue.

Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam

Surprisingly, as I went to South Korea I also discovered that there was an agreement between the government of South Korea and Nigeria to set up a Hyundai Car Assembly Plant in Benue, that was back in the eighties, that was never to be because of the coup that overthrew that government.

When the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology invited me, actually the Mayor of the City of Deajeon invited me through the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, I didn't hesitate to go.

It was a very successful outing in the sense that we attended the WTA, that is the World Technopolis Association meeting which attracted about 40 countries across the world.

The only state that was actually invited from Nigeria was Benue State and I led the delegation.

I held very useful meetings with the Mayor of Deajeon. Deajeon is actually the science centre of Korea. All that Korea has achieved in terms of technology is centred in the city of Deajeon and the Mayor received me and we also had a very useful meeting.

He also accepted an invitation to visit Benue. He also accepted that they will assist us in the development of technology, training and the vocational science centres that we're intending to set up.

So on the whole it was a very successful journey and we're looking forward to that relationship which is more like renewed, which had existed before with our first civilian governor. I really want to thank you for wanting to know. I didn't go out to launder money (general laughter), I went out for the interest of the state.

My question is not pertaining to the trip but to the security in the state. This is because I've been visited twice, on the first of September and on the eighth. Two weeks to that Doofan (AIT correspondent) was chased with a gun, so I don't know what is being done to curb this.

What are you people doing now?

Some people should move in with the ladies (general laughter). Well, it's also a cause for concern because we're beginning to witness a resurgence of these acts of criminality. On Friday I'm going to invite all of you.

We wrote a letter to the President sometime last year. He has willingly approved a joint patrol between the military and the police. Those of you who are constant visitors into Government House you would have seen some vehicles, Hillux vehicles parked somewhere within the premises. On Friday, that joint patrol team has been put together and so on Friday we're going to formally launch a joint patrol team called Operation Zenda.

Zenda is like chase for the purpose of not only making sure that our urban centres are safe but our roads as well. We have in the same vein purchased four PCI, these are armoured vehicles but these ones are the faster ones. Those ones are coming.

The four of them will be stationed; one or two will be stationed on this Abuja road which is where we have rampant cases of armed robbery. We'll put one around Otukpo down to Ogbadibo side. The four of them will be distributed but these vehicles here are 20 plus two of them which are for the people who will be in charge so they're all together 22 Hillux vehicles for the joint patrol.

And we believe that it is going to be full force. They will have the mandate to be proactive, not reactive. It is a presidential approval. So if the men are not doing what they're supposed to do, on the part of government we'll make sure that you're safe. So, we're addressing the issue of security very seriously.

You raised a very key issue while you were speaking to the UNICEF country representative. As we see now all these agencies are not in the state. We attended an NGO stakeholders' meeting last Friday and all they were saying was that the state has not done anything regarding the State Economic Empowerment Development Strategy, SEEDS, 2 document. That, you promised to take very positive actions regarding these areas. But over one year that you've taken over you've done nothing to push this agenda. The State Planning Commission is not working actively, so how are you going to take action in this regard?

I've not only approved money a long time ago for the preparation of SEEDS Two, I have been constantly breathing down the neck of the State Planning Commission to take action. I've gone ahead to form a committee outside of approving money. Unfortunately as we're talking no report has come to me, no effort has been made. I also feel very sad. It's unfortunate but I'm taking measures to address that so that.

In the course of one of your trips, the recent ones, an indigene of the state addressed an open letter to you. Government officials have addressed this letter to a certain degree but you see the entire nation is waiting for the governor to say one or two words about the letter. Do you regard it as a wild goose chase or how is this money spent, how is that money spent? What is your reaction? Are you going to say that the letter should be left in the cooler or say that your government has been working and the different agencies will address the issues raised in the letter? But your people, Sankera people, are saying that you should address the issues and probe the immediate past administration.

No, I don't think the issue of probing any person has arisen. But in politics you have no control over statements made by people who are your supporters depending on how they see that they could also speak out their minds. But I do not intend under any circumstance, to probe my immediate predecessor.

The issues raised in the letter are baseless and frivolous. They're not intended to correct, they're intended to demean not only the character of the person of the governor or the integrity of the governor or the government which I represent. Because when you write such a letter, you channel it to the appropriate authority. What he did was to go to media houses and circulate it.

The intention was to embark on a smear campaign.

The first thing was for me to take the option of going to court. But me as a person with the immunity I enjoy I can not take any person to court and then nobody can take me to court.

The Media Adviser with the media team have addressed the issues comprehensively and I have directed the commissioner for finance to get the figures because they're blatant lies, falsehood intended to assassinate my character, intended to reduce me in the eyes Nigerians and the people that I represent.

And I think it's highly mischievous. It's a letter that has no backing of any document; we're going to take it up very seriously.

I'll mention two issues. He said that we borrowed N12 billion. This government has not under any circumstances or anywhere borrowed any form of money, not to talk of N12 billion and there is no bank or group of banks, and if I was borrowing that kind of money it must be approved by the House of Assembly. Such a thing has never happened anywhere.

He said that I bought Prado Jeeps at N19 million. Those Prado Jeeps are bought directly from the distributors and I think the price is N8.9 million or so. The receipts and the companies that they bought from them are all there. These are blatant lies.

He said that we gave a contract for water works for N4.9 billion, that we gave the people N2.9 billion and took more than half of that. Even to pay the people 30 per cent we paid them twice. The receipt and everything is stated. We first paid them I think N500 million and secondly they paid them N900 million because we couldn't, we didn't have money to pay them 30 per cent at a go; and so we have paid them only 30 per cent.

As I'm talking to you there are outstanding certificates that we're unable to pay. He said I gave the contract to furnish the secretariat N800 million and took part of the money, as I'm talking to you we have not been able to pay those people 30%.

He confused the governor's office with the lodge. A state like Benue does not have a befitting governor's lodge and an office, and so these are two separate contracts. And if you take the contracts which we've given, which are transparent, which were done in the Ministry of Works, bided by Julius Berger, Dantata and Sawoe, and this Chinese company.

The Chinese company was the least. If you take it on a comparative basis with what happened in other states, Benue has given the least contract to build the Governor's lodge. Those people as I'm talking to you we've not been able to give them 30 per cent. These are all blatant lies.

He talked about excess crude. I've always said that government is a continuous process. When I came in contracts were given, some of the people were not mobilised, some had started work, like the rural jobs, the rural roads. Every month we're paying that man so as to, because they owed him a debt of about N12 billion, so I'm paying him N500 million every month.

I don't of course mint money and how much is the excess crude money? So we're paying roads. We gave P W contracts to do two roads in Zone C. We gave Rockbridge, if you go to Agatu, if you want to go to Agatu now, they've almost reached Agatu now, they're almost finishing and it's high quality work and I'm not minting money so where am I getting money to pay all of that?

I would want you people, I can arrange and the Media people can take you to these projects and you see what the people are doing. These are renowned companies.

If I had wanted to cheat I would have brought in mushroom companies and then given them jobs and said look this is what this thing is. The urban renewal across the state, we're paying them, that is why they're working. If you go to Katsina_Ala they're working.

If you go to Otukpo they're working, in Gboko they're working and I've added more roads so that we can have this thing.

It's a practical thing. For instance, this month, what we're getting as a state is N1.9 billion this month. The salary wage bill is one billion one hundred and sixteen million.

So if you pay one billion one hundred and sixteen million out of N1.9 billion how much do you have to run government and pay all these certificates?

P W has a certificate; Dantata has a certificate; Gilmor has a certificate, the people doing different contracts have certificates. So it has been through very high prudent management of resources.

They say that we're taking local government money because it's one area that I've been very careful with. Outside local government statutory deductions which include payment of teachers, nobody touches local government money.

There was a joint services account that the former government put in place where intervening funds like value added tax, VAT, and excess crude of both the state and local governments are put in one account. That is where we bought fertilizer for this year of close to N6 billion.

That is why fertilizer is abundant. I don't mint money, where do I get the money from? So when we put this money there, we pay for fertilizer, we pay for some of these jobs that I mentioned here.

I'm not leaving it at that because it has to act as a deterrent to some other people. I've taken appropriate measures so that he must have to prove and bring details of the things that he has alleged in that letter.

It's baseless and has no meaning. If I was taking money the jobs wouldn't have been going on, the jobs are going on and so it doesn't make sense. The office which he said we paid N600 million. I know of a state where only the renovation of a kitchen costs N400. But that office, there's no governor's office of that standard anywhere in this country.

If you see anyone you tell me, the office of a governor, there's none like that and it costs only N600 million with external works with a whole lawn, there's a new water treatment plant that is also fixed in that Government House.

If you go now they are doing a borehole, it's part of the contract. They've finished now, the furnishing is done, everything, furnishing is Julius Berger so that it can last. So these things are all on ground for people to see. So I think the intention was not only to distract me but to also demean me in the eyes of Nigerians and other people who intend to do business.

And so I dismiss it, it's baseless but like I said, I'm going to take appropriate measures so that next time if any person wants to write anything about government, he will have facts and not just fabricate frivolous and blatant lies.

The National Sports Festival is just a month from now and in Benue State there's nothing happening, no camping, the athletes are just there roaming about. If you go to other states from reports I've read from newspapers, Delta, Edo, Lagos, Plateau, that's the truth sir, preparations are in top gear. There is nothing happening here?

Before you finish, we had approved money, I had approved N92 million which monies have been released and so what you're telling me is totally news to me and I'll be surprised if nothing is happening. (Turning to his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs). Just get the Commissioner and the Director of Sports to come and see me immediately. I'm surprised.