No plan to return to APC – Ortom

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, on Wednesday, said he had no plan to defect from the PDP to the APC or any other political party.

It would be recalled that Ortom dumped APC in July 2018 for the PDP, where he contested and won his re-election in the 2019 governorship election in the state.

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He 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 governor, however, through his spokesman, Terver Akase, stated categorically that Governor Ortom was not contemplating leaving PDP for whatever reason.

“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,” he said.

However, APC in the state has faulted Ortom’s denial. The state Publicity Secretary, James Ornguga, said the statement by the APC chairman in the state, Comrade Abba Yaro, on Ortom’s impending defection was misconstrued.

“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,” he said.