Gabriel Suswam
| Gabriel Suswam | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Benue State | |
|
Assumed office 29 May 2007 - 29 May 2015 |
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| Preceded by | George Akume |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Ortom |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 November 1964 Anyiin, Logo LGA of Benue State |
Gabriel Torwua Suswam is a Nigerian politician who became governor of Benue State in May 2007 until 29 May 2015. He ran again successfully in the 26 April 2011 elections on the PDP platform.
In 2015, Gabriel Torwua Suswam's senatorial and political ambitions were squashed by Chief Barnabas Gemade when Suswam unsuccessfully ran for the senate in the March 28 federal elections. His failure to secure a seat at the red chambers of Nigeria's National Assembly was related to his poor performance as executive governor of Benue State during his eight years tenure.Suswam's political crush led to his fleeing the country to some undisclosed destination in Europe or North America where he is currently taking refuge. His successor Dr. Samuel Ortom said the Suswam-led government mismanaged state treasury, leaving an empty coffers with a whooping N90 billion naira debt profile. During Suswam's administration, the state witnessed very poor management of public infrastructure, leading to an outright decay and abandon. State civil servants were not paid salaries for six months while at some time, state primary schools were shut down for one year following strike action by unpaid teachers.
His party - the People's Democratic Party (PDP) also failed woefully at both state and national levels due to bad governance, corruption and insecurity. Accordingly, Gabriel Suswam is the most corrupt public leader Benue state ever produced. The people of the state could not initiate legal actions against him while in office because the Nigerian constitution does not allow prosecution of public office holders, especially governors and presidents. This explains while he took to self exile at the expiration of his tenure as Executive Governor of Benue. The self-declared exile former governor of Benue who was a "big" political player is now referred to as "Yesterday's Emperor, Today's Fugitive" following his inability to face his political opponents after his state immunity had expired.
Gabriel Suswam was born on 15 November 1964 in Anyiin, Logo Local Government Area of Benue State. In 1986 he was admitted into the Law Faculty of the University of Lagos. He obtained an LL.B degree in 1989, and the BL Certificate from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos in 1990. He was called to the Bar that year. He worked for other law firms from 1990–1994, while continuing his studies. In 1994 he launched his own law firm.
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