Benue State governor, Mr. Samuel Ortom, has requested his supporters to hold their peace, assuring them that he will soon disclose his political party of choice.
Currently a serving governor of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ortom had lamented the killings in his State, accusing the Federal government of not doing enough to stop the massacre of his people. Along the line he alleged that the APC had given him the red card, signaling his disaffection with the party.
Yet he advised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirants in the State not to dissipate energy on his planned defection.
Ortom’s Special Adviser on Media and ICT, Tahav Agerzua quoted the governor as saying that he is yet to declare to anyone that he is defecting.
According to the governor, “I don’t need to seek their permission before joining the People Democratic Party (PDP), and l have not announced to anyone that am going into PDP.”
The governor noted that he would address the issue at the appropriate time.
“As for now, he is saying that the National leadership of APC called him to a meeting on Thursday in Abuja, and that he will make his final announcement after that meeting.
“So I don’t know where those people got their information from. But the issue of the party is an issue of interest. Maybe the aspirants feel that their interest is threatened, but surely l don’t think they have the controlling powers of the structure of PDP,” Ortom said.
In a related development, elders from Masev, Ihyarev and Nongov Development Association, known as MINDA, a geopolitical zone in the state, have urged Ortom to seek an alternative political platform for his re-election bid.
Spokesman of the elders’ forum, Senator JKN Waku said that MINDA people had in the past supported other blocs including Kwande, Jechira, Jemgbagh and Sankera to enjoy their turns as governor of the state and would not allow those whom he said have catapulted themselves into demigods to cause confusion within their ranks.
While noting that aside of governors Aper Aku and Moses Adasu whose tenure was cut short due to military intervention, ‘Senator George Akume and Gabriel Suswam did eight years as governors, adding that Ortom’s case would not be different.
The group promised the governor of their unflinching support for his re-election project, lamenting that APC Federal government has not been fair to Benue people, hence the need to move en masse to another political party as quickly as possible.
They vowed to resist the antics of divide and rule by any individual or group of persons, stressing that when a man marries and divorces several wives, his character should be questioned.