Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has debunked a report circulating online, claiming that he and his counterparts in the G-5 have resolved to work for the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to win the 2023 election.
Recall that Ortom had, in a statement, backed former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi as the right candidate to win the upcoming presidential election.
The Benue governor had affirmed that if he were not politically tied to the PDP, he would have personally led Obi’s campaign across the country.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the Governor, Terver Akase, on Tuesday, the Benue State Government said the report is false as it is targeted at embarrassing the five Governors who have chosen the path of justice, fairness, and equity.
It noted that Governor Ortom, during a meeting with the state caucus of the PDP on Monday, had harped on the failure of the national leadership of the party to utilize its internal conflict resolution mechanism to salvage the crisis rocking the party.
The statement partly read: “We read a fictitious online report which claimed that the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom and his colleagues in the G-5 have resolved to work for the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to win the 2023 election.
“The report is not only false but also mischievous as it is targeted at embarrassing the five Governors who have chosen the path of justice, fairness and equity.
“Manufacturers of the said report were apparently on a desperate mission to score a cheap political point. The report could not mention the place and date of the said meeting of G-5 Governors. The writers only sought to take advantage of the crisis within the PDP for their selfish purposes. Governor Ortom and other members of the G-5 have not endorsed the said presidential candidate.
“When the Governor met with the expanded state caucus of PDP yesterday, January 9, 2023, at the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi, his message to them was crystal clear that the national leadership of PDP has failed to utilize its internal conflict resolution mechanism, which has led to the crisis rocking the party. The Governor said during the meeting that if the crisis is not resolved before the elections, he would be left with no other option than to take a stand on the matter. He added, however, that he wouldn’t impose his decision on members of the party in the state.
“Governor Ortom did not address the press after the meeting. The online report is, therefore, fake and should be disregarded.”
