Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has dismissed allegation by a group that he was pushing for the removal of Sen Iyorchia Ayu as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The governor said this in a statement by Terver Akase, his Special Adviser, Media & Publicity, on Tuesday.
“It is pertinent to first establish clearly that there is no socio-cultural organization in Benue State known as ‘Tiv Youth Council’.
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“The charlatans who issued the published trash of a statement in Abuja yesterday alleging that Governor Samuel Ortom is pushing for the removal of the National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, are misguided All Progressives Congress, APC youths who have been assigned the role of attack dogs. Part of their job is fueling disharmony within the PDP.
“The APC youth group in question insults people for a living. Theirs is a perfidious political enterprise which thrives on blackmail, mischief and the stirring of acrimony for survival.
“APC which is engulfed in a series of crises in Benue State ranging from its fraudulent nomination of a governorship candidate to the impasse of a running mate, lacks the moral high ground to comment on the affairs of PDP.
“Governor Samuel Ortom has no problem with the PDP National Chairman, Senator Ayu. The party is already working to resolve the issues of concern within its fold and won’t be needing the input of APC.
“Their attempt to portray Governor Ortom as one who fights other illustrious Benue sons is such a lame-duck and nauseating reasoning.
“The Governor as an effective team player has supported and is still supporting many Benue people to grow and occupy high positions in the society. He believes in human capital development and redefining Benue State’s place in the national politics of our country.
“We expect APC to face their mountain of internal wranglings which have led to their failure to field a governorship candidate for the 2023 elections in Benue State.
“APC ought to be worried more about the fact that their party is in disarray in Benue State as can be seen in the mass defection of their members into PDP, including serving members of the State House of Assembly.
“Governor Ortom is not responsible for the collapse of APC in Benue State. He was not the one who advised the leader of APC in the state, Senator George Akume to take the party as his personal property.
“The Governor also did not advise Senator Akume to refuse to conduct primary elections thereby throwing the party into unending crisis. Governor Ortom also did not advise Senator Akume to impose a governorship candidate and running mate on the APC.
“Under the leadership of Governor Ortom, PDP conducted transparent and credible primaries. With 35 Governorship and many other aspirants for National and State Assemblies seats, the Governor effectively coordinated the party and it has remained strong and united, without any form of litigation.
“As we earlier stated, the opposition party in the state is out to divert attention from the myriad of problems facing it with numerous court cases trailing their controversial nomination process.
“Launching media attacks on Governor Ortom has become an obsession of sorts for the APC.
“We urge members of the public to regard the utterances of the group as empty rantings only aimed at securing their next meal ticket,” the statement said. .
