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The Benue State Government has appealed to lawyers who have obtained garnishee orders against the state government to show understanding following the government’s competing financial obligations.
The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof Yangien Ornguga, made the appeal when he interacted with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in his office in Makurdi.
Ornguga, who disclosed that the state government is currently being inundated with numerous garnishee orders, said the development has continued to affect available funds which were supposed to be used on projects that would impact positively on the lives of the people.
He said the government has continued to engage affected lawyers and other concerned parties to resolve the issues.
According to him, the government has been negotiating with the parties involved and, in some cases, making arrangements for the payment of the debts in instalments.
The commissioner appealed to lawyers with garnishee orders to cooperate with the government and show understanding, particularly given the competing demands on the state’s resources.
He said the state government had also reviewed several obsolete laws, including the Child Rights Law, Penal Code, Gender-Based Violence Law, Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law, Education Laws and Local Government Laws, to make them responsive to current realities.
Ornguga disclosed that his ministry, in partnership with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), had intensified fight against human trafficking in the state.
He added that the ministry was prosecuting several sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases and had established a desk at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps to address sexual violence and provide support to survivors.
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The Attorney-General said the government has also cleared arrears owed judiciary workers and increased the salary of casual workers from N5,000 to N20,000, while discussions are also ongoing to carry out employment and convert them to government workers.
He said, “We are also improving the working conditions of staff with the construction of a new office complex.”
Ornguga charged newsmen in the state to lead the fight against fake news, particularly false reports about the state government, public officials and court proceedings.
He expressed concerns over the growing spread of false information about legal cases, judgments and court rulings, urging newsmen, as watchdogs, to always set the record straight.
He said, “People like peddling fake news. People like telling lies against government. People like telling lies against government functionaries. It is your responsibility to counter this fake news.
“People also like telling fake stories or lying about legal cases, judgments and rulings of courts. It is your responsibility to educate our people on all of this. It is your responsibility to devise a means of countering fake news, fake stories about the government of Benue State, about the functionaries, the judiciary, and indeed about the justice sector generally.
“You cannot sit and say that it is not your concern. As watchdogs of the society, if you see something that is going wrong, you must stand up to correct that.”
Ornguga also blamed social media for accelerating the spread of fake news, saying journalists must investigate government activities and provide the public with accurate information.
