Engr. Samuel Ortom, the former Governor of Benue State has reacted to a statement by 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s aide, Phrank Shaibu, describing him as the worst governor in Nigeria’s history.
Shaibu had accused the G-5 Governors of working against Atiku and stressed that they were only seeking relevance, appointments, and protection from prosecution.
Reacting, Ortom in a statement issued by his aide, Terver Akase said Atiku Abubakar ought to be worried that he has gone into history as the first presidential candidate of a leading political party to be rejected by key stakeholders and many other members of his party.
â€We are not sure that the Special Assistant on Public Communication to the PDP presidential candidate got his consent before making the statement; because if he did, he would have refrained from blaming the G-5 for his loss at the polls.
â€The question that should bother him is, why did the G-5 and other members of the Integrity Group reject his candidacy? The group stood for justice, equity and fairness that the 2023 presidency must go to the southern part of the country and Nigerians saw the indisputable facts contained in the position of the Integrity Group and voted for a presidential candidate from the south.
â€Another reason for Atiku’s attack on Chief Ortom is the former Benue State Governor’s boldness to speak truth to his face and rebuke him for making unstatesmanlike comments regarding the killing of Benue people by Fulani herdsmen.
Atiku is on record to have expressed bitterness towards Ortom for daring to enact a law to prohibit open grazing of livestock in the state.
â€The former Vice President’s diatribe against Chief Ortom can therefore be understood as the manifestation of frustration for losing the 2023 election.