Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, can go to hell as he will not support his presidential bid in 2023 to continue the killing of Benue people.
Ortom, spoke on Sunday night when he hosted the G-5 governors – Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) – to dinner at the government house in Makurdi.
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The four governors were in the state ahead of the flag-off of the PDP campaigns for the 2023 general elections, as well as the commissioning of some projects executed by Governor Ortom in Makurdi, which is billed for yesterday, Monday.
The governor, while decrying the killing of 18 people a few days ago in his home local government of Guma, said: “To hell with Atiku and anyone supporting him. They should go and tell him. You want me to be a slave for a Fulani. It’s better I die. Anybody supporting Atiku is an enemy of Benue.
“My people are being killed, and you want me to be quiet. My tenure ends in May, and you can do whatever you want if you think you have the powers.
“I have written my will. When I gave it to my wife, she cried all night. If I die at 62, many of my mates have gone long time ago and if I die today, I’m a fulfilled person, but let it be recorded that I died resisting the invasion and killing of my people.
“I will never support a Fulani man to become president. If there is another person who is ready to work with me and ensure the security of my people, I will work with him,” he said.
The governor added that, “From tomorrow (Monday) I’m turning my venom on the National Assembly members from the state who are romancing with Buhari to kill the Benue people.”
Meanwhile, Governor Wike, who spoke on behalf of the G-5 governors, said they are out to save the country from its present condition of total collapse.
Ayu absent as PDP flags off campaign in Benue
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the PDP, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, was on Monday absent from the party’s gubernatorial campaign flag off ceremony in Benue State.
Our correspondent reports that neither Ayu nor any representative of the PDP from the national secretariat was present at the event attended by the G-5 Governors—Wike (Rivers), Ikpeazu (Abia), Makinde (Oyo) and Ugwuanyi (Enugu)—at the IBB square in Makurdi.
Ayu’s absence might likely not be unconnected with the bitter rivalry between him and the G-5 Governors.
The acting state chairman of the party, Isaac Mfo, while addressing the large gathering shortly after the presentation of the party flags to the state’s PDP governorship candidate and three senatorial candidates, urged them to go work hard and return victory to the party in next year’s general elections.
Also, Senator Gabriel Suswam, who is seeking reelection, assured that the problem tearing the party apart would be resolved before the elections.
Suswam noted that, “These gentlemen (G-5), if they wanted, would have left the party, but they have stayed in the PDP. We will be able to resolve our problems so we can take over the state and take over Nigeria.”
But, in their separate speeches, all the G-5 Governors appealed to the party faithful to work hard for the victory of the PDP in 2023, even as they denied the existence of any problem in the party.
Meanwhile, Governor Samuel Ortom, who earlier conducted his colleagues around Makurdi metropolis to commission six of his road projects, insisted that there was no problem in the party.
Why we wrote to Ayu – Bauchi PDP
Similarly, the Bauchi State chapter of the PDP has explained why it wrote to the national chairman of the party over issues happening in the party in the state.
The State Publicity Secretary, Yayanuwa Zainabari, told Daily Trust in a telephone interview on Monday that a letter was written to Ayu to caution the presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his loyalists for allegedly undermining the re-election bid of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State.
He said some elders of the party in state wrote the letter to the national chairman for quick intervention to avert an impending crisis. He alleged that a former governor of the state, Adamu Mu’azu, and some Abuja-based politicians, are working against the interests of PDP in the state.
Daily Trust gathered that the letter prompted Ayu to lead a delegation to Bauchi at the weekend to pacify the governor.
Hope Abah Emmanuel (Makurdi) & Hassan Ibrahim (Bauchi )
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