Samuel Ortom, the ex-governor of Benue state, claims that his affiliation with the G-5 Integrity Group, his support for a southern president, and the implementation of the grazing law in Benue state has irked former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election.
Addressing recent comments made by Mr. Phrank Shaibu, a Special Assistant on Public Communication to the PDP presidential candidate, former Governor Samuel Ortom released a statement on Wednesday in Makurdi, as relayed by his media aide, Terver Akase. Ortom’s statement rebuts the claims that the G-5 group members worked against the PDP Presidential candidate’s success in the election.
Discrediting the claim, Mr. Akase said: ‘We read a statement credited to the former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, claiming that the immediate past Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom and his colleagues in the G-5 worked against him during the last election but have ongoing corruption cases at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and are being protected by President Bola Tinubu.’
‘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.’
‘Alhaji Atiku Abubakar ought to be worried more that he has gone into history as the first presidential candidate of a leading political party to be rejected by key stakeholders including five sitting Governors and many other members of his party.’
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‘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.’
‘Atiku is angry because Governor Ortom and his colleagues in the G-5 refused to be used by him as ‘Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)’ to circumvent and thwart the resolve of Nigerians to produce a President from the southern region.’
‘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.’
‘The former Vice President’s diatribe against Chief Ortom can therefore be understood as the manifestation of frustration for losing the 2023 election. His failure to humble himself and unite the PDP, opting to remain haughty even when the signals were clear that he was heading for defeat summarized his performance in the last election.’
‘Atiku lacks the moral ground to accuse anyone else of corruption. The words of his erstwhile principal, the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo have remained indelible and incontrovertible.’
Akase words: ‘the role of anti-graft agencies is to investigate allegations of corruption. Whenever they invite someone, such a person has to honour the invitation. As a man who believes in the rule of law, Chief Ortom willingly visited EFCC when the Commission sought clarifications on the actions of his administration.
‘We urge Nigerians to disregard the allegation by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar against the former Benue State Governor as it is unfounded and tantamount to cheap blackmail.’
In bolstering ex-Governor Ortom’s viewpoint on the former Vice President’s character, the statement cited specific pages (191-192) from the book ‘My Watch,’ authored by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.