Benue Opposed RUGA, Not FG’s Livestock Plan — Ortom

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has clarified that his administration is only opposed to Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) settlement and not the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP).

He said he would support the implementation of NLTP so long as the policy would adhere strictly to the state’s Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017.

Ortom in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, accused a presidential aide, Laureta Onochie, of giving a false narrative about the stance of his government on the implementation of the NLTP.

The governor said his government only agreed to key into the NLTP because it was approved by the National Economic Council (NEC).

“Onochie made spurious allegations, painting the picture that Governor Ortom supports RUGA because the state government was listed as one of the states that applied for funds from the federal government for the purposes of establishing ranches.

“It is on record that Governor Ortom has rejected all manner of coinage from the federal government in a bid to grab land from Benue State,” the statement said.

Daily Trust reports that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agriculture and coordinator of the NLTP, Andrew Kwasari, had confirmed that Benue and Ondo were among the states that had expressed interest in the project.

Others, he said, are Ekiti, Ebonyi, Kogi, Kaduna, Taraba, Adamawa, Zamfara, Kano, Katsina, Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Niger, Sokoto and Kwara states.

Kwasari said the government would disburse funds to Nasarawa and Plateau states for the establishment of model ranches in about a week under the NLTP, having met all the conditions.

He said Adamawa, Plateau, Ondo, Taraba, Gombe, Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa states were about meeting the conditions.