Samuel Ortom, the governor of Benue State, had criticized the All Progressives Congress for referring to him as an errand boy to Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State. Keep in mind that Austin Agada, the Chairman of the APC’s Benue State chapter, had made the claim that Ortom left governance in Benue “to run errands” for his counterpart in Rivers State.
Goldennewsng reports that in response to the comment, Ortom issued a statement on Sunday that was issued by Special Adviser, Media & Publicity, Terver Akase. In the statement, Ortom said that the APC leader leads the party like he is leading a gang of thugs.
The statement goes on to say that “it was not the first time that the young man who runs APC in Benue as if he is leading a group of thugs would insult the Governor of his state in the manner he did.” This is a reference to the young man’s behavior.
“The moral authority to question the leadership abilities of anyone else is lacking in a party chairman who was beaten to a pulp in his community of Otukpa by angry APC members who were protesting against the fraudulent governorship primary election he conducted in May of this year.
“Agada and others who write and speak on behalf of the APC in Benue State appeared to be too young to be aware that the party leader who served as governor of Benue State from 1999 to 2007—Senator George Akume—was a very close friend of Dr. Peter Odili, who was governor of Rivers State at the time.
“Obviously, the APC state chairman has not heard of the second republic’s long-standing relationship between Benue State Governor Aper Aku and Rivers State Governor Melford Okilo.Agada is completely unaware of the positive development potential of cordial relationships among state governors.
“Lead representative Ortom’s relationship with Lead representative Wike is based on common regard, progress and advantage of the two states. Similar to how Governor Wike invites him to reciprocate in his state, the Governor has invited his Rivers counterpart and several other Governors to Benue State to commission numerous projects.
“His Royal Majesty Professor James Ayatse bestowed chieftaincy titles on Governor Wike, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, and Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State last year during the commissioning of the ultra-modern Tor Tiv Palace built by the Ortom administration in Gboko.
At the same event, Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, received a chieftaincy title as well.
The commissioning of four major roads that Governor Ortom built in Gboko preceded the ceremony.
“On the invitation of their host and member of the group, Governor Samuel Ortom, the G-5 Governors—Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Ifeanyi Ugwanyi of Enugu, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Seyi Makinde of Oyo—were in Makurdi just last month, where they commissioned a number of projects.
The Tse Poor-Apir road, renamed Ayua Num road, the Yaikyo-Tse Poor road, renamed Sule Abenga road, and the road leading from George Akume road to NKST Yina, renamed Senator JKN Waku road were prominent among the commissioned projects.
“Also commissioned by the visiting governors were the Kaanga-Akaya-Lucy Aluor road, which is now known as the Nyesom Wike road, and the Low-Cost Housing Estate-Bambam road, which is now known as the Chief JC Obande road. The 14-kilometer Tse-Poor-Mbanima project was one of the electrification projects that day.
Governor Ortom’s aforementioned development efforts do not, in any way, suggest that he has given up on governance. However, we are aware that the APC leadership’s bluffing efforts in Benue State are intended to portray the Ortom administration’s actions in a negative light.
“The government and people of Rivers State presented Governor Ortom with one of the state’s highest honors yesterday in Port Harcourt .It is interesting to note that the APC in Benue State does not mention the fact that some of the party’s platform governors, such as Yahaya Bello of Kogi and Dave Umahi of Ebonyi, received awards.
If that was referred to as “running an errand” for Governor Wike, then Governor Ortom was not the only one participating in the “trip.”
“Throughout the course of the game, the Benue APC chairman and his band of shady officials keep moving the goalposts. Their narrative up until this point had been that the Governor had not recorded any accomplishments.
“Their songfest has escalated to the despicable level of slandering the Governor in the manner of street urchins as a result of the frequent commissioning of projects.
“Since they assumed control of the party, the APC’s state working committee, led by Agada, has not been able to accomplish a single task.They operate the party as a racket.
“The only known achievements of the inexperienced APC leadership in Benue were extorting huge sums of money from aspirants before the party primaries and the reported embezzlement of funds meant for delegates to the party’s national convention in Abuja.
From pouring invectives on major stakeholders of the party to crass ineptitude accompanied by arrogance and rascality, the only known achievements of the inexperienced APC leadership in Benue were
A number of lawsuits were filed against the party as a result of their failure to hold free and fair primaries, and a large number of its members defected to the PDP and other political parties in the state.
“Governor Ortom remains focused and committed to fulfilling his mandate of serving the people of Benue.The volume of the opposition’s smear campaigns will not deter the Governor.
