Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State on Wednesday disclosed that he has no plan to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC) or any other political party.
Ortom said the clarification became necessary owing to a recent statement allegedly credited to the Benue State Chairman of APC, Comrade Abba Yaro in which he insinuated that the Governor will soon be returning to the party.
The Spokesman of the governor, Terver Akase, stated categorically that Governor Ortom is not contemplating leaving PDP for whatever reason.
“The Governor believes that the political, economic and security challenges currently facing the country cannot merely be solved by people decamping from one political party to another.
“He says what is most important at this point is for Nigerians of all walks of life to join hands and surmount the challenges confronting the nation.
“Governor Ortom is comfortably leading the PDP in Benue State to achieve development milestones for the people and he remains focused on the mandate of providing good governance to all parts of the state,”
Benue APC responds
The APC in Benue State has responded to Ortom’s denial.
The APC’s state publicity secretary, James Ornguga, said it was important to straighten the facts, touching on the quotes foisted on his principal.
“Comrade Abba Yaro, while speaking at the decamping ceremony of Chief Barnabas Gemade in Konshisha last Friday, tacitly declared that, with the return of Senator Gemade, a former Speaker, Yakubu Dogora and other top politicians, who left the APC before the 2019 general election, it is possible that the Benue State Governor may also follow them to where all Nigerians are headed.
“The conditional statement from the APC State Chairman was not an outright announcement of Governor Ortom’s defection plans, neither was he categorical about it.
“By rushing to the press five days after to make a rebuttal concerning this mild statement that was made in Konshisha, CPS Akase has again revived memories of the governor’s defection to PDP in 2018; whereas his media team kept denying such and referring to PDP as the metaphorical Egypt not worth the governor’s return to it, the governor was clandestinely perfecting his return to same Egypt and actively reaching to PDP hierarchy,” Ornguga stated.
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