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Join for News Updates ✕Alia Cannot Rewrite History on Ihyarev, Ortom’s Media Aide Insists
Tags: Alfred Emberga, Benue Politics, Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, Ihyarev, Samuel Ortom
By Joel Kyel, Makurdi
The media aide to former Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, Zege Paul Terhide, has rejected claims credited to Governor Hyacinth Alia indicating that the Ihyarev people of Lobi extraction were neglected under the previous administration.
Terhide, in a statement dated August 28, 2026, described the narrative as misleading and accused the governor of attempting to rewrite the history of the Ortom administration for political reasons.
He argued that the record of appointments into strategic government positions contradicts the claim that Ihyarev was sidelined during Ortom’s eight years in office.
According to him, several prominent sons of the area occupied influential positions in the administration, including leadership roles in local government, the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Office of the Chief of Staff, the State Emergency Management Agency and other agencies.
He specifically listed Anthony Shawon and Mike Uba, who he said served at different times as Chairmen of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, in Benue State.
The statement also mentioned Senator Titus Zam, Jerome Torshimbe and Kenneth Achabo as successive Special Advisers on the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
Terhide further cited Tivlumun Nyitse as Chief of Staff to Governor Ortom, describing the position as one of the most influential offices in the administration.
Independent reports confirm that Gabriel Tivlumun Nyitse served as Ortom’s Chief of Staff, while Bernard Unenge was a commissioner for Lands, Survey and Solid Minerals during the administration.
Other names listed by Ortom’s media aide included Boniface Ortese and Emmanuel Shior, who he said headed the Benue State Emergency Management Agency at different times; Bernard Unenge as Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Solid Minerals; Matthew Mnyam at the State Universal Basic Education Board; Samuel Kwende at the Science and Technical Board; and James Aboho in Urban and Rural Development.
Terhide argued that such appointments were inconsistent with any suggestion that Ihyarev was excluded from governance.
He also pointed to the present Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Alfred Emberga, whom he said received his first political appointment under the Ortom administration as Acting Publicity Secretary of the APC.
Historical media reports from 2017 confirm Emberga’s role as acting APC publicity secretary in Benue during the Ortom years.
The former governor’s aide nevertheless acknowledged that no administration could satisfy every demand of every community.
He said the issue was not whether every expectation was met, but whether it was historically accurate to portray Ihyarev as having been ignored.
Ortom Records Under Scrutiny
The statement also challenged what Terhide described as repeated claims by Governor Alia concerning salary, pension and gratuity arrears inherited from the previous administration.
Terhide rejected the claim that Ortom left behind three years of unpaid salaries, insisting that the figures being circulated should not be confused with the broader value of accumulated salary, pension and gratuity liabilities.
The controversy over Benue’s inherited wage liabilities has previously been publicly disputed.
Governor Alia said his administration inherited debts exceeding N359 billion covering salaries, pensions, gratuities and related arrears, while Ortom rejected the characterization and demanded that the state disclose detailed revenue and wage records.
A separate official response from the Benue State Government said the N359 billion figure included different categories of obligations, including salary arrears, local government wages, teachers’ salaries, pensions and gratuities.
Terhide maintained that reducing the historical record of the Ortom administration to salary arrears was unfair and politically motivated.
https://guardian.ng/news/why-62-of-govts-it-projects-often-fail-to-meet-expectations/
He urged Governor Alia to focus on the performance of his own administration rather than continually attacking his predecessor.
According to the statement, political differences should not become an excuse for distorting documented events.
“History,” Terhide argued, “cannot be bullied or rewritten” simply because political circumstances have changed.