2019: Governor Ortom Says He’s Still a Member of APC

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Thursday, July 19th, 2018

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has clarified he is still a card-carrying member of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC.

The Governor who raised alarm Monday that he has been given a red card reversed himself Thursday in Abuja while speaking with newsmen after a closed-door meeting with the APC National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

Mr. Ortom then likened himself to a footballer who was out of the football pitch waiting to be picked by another club.

The governor and Sen. George Akume, a former governor of the state, had been having a running battle over who controlled the party in the state.

However narrated “It was the Benue APC that gave me a red card, not the national APC and that was enough to make myself available out of the pitch.

“But, the leadership of the party told me that its decision is superior to that of any individual or group of people and I think that is good enough.

“They have spoken to him (Akume) and have spoken to me, and the state’s stakeholders are going to be spoken to. That’s where I belong.

“We have not concluded the matter; it’s an ongoing process. I always stand for peace.

“I always want peace to prevail, and that’s what I call for’’.

“I am here in APC; I am a member of the party, I am still flying the flag of APC. I only said I was given red card, but I have been corrected by the national secretariat,” Ortom clarified.

Governor Ortom appreciated the party’s leadership for intervening in the matter and expressed hope that it would be able to resolve the differences between him and other stakeholders.

The APC National Leader Oshiomhole countered by saying APC did not have red cards in its cupboard and could not give what it didn’t have.

He noted that there could, however, be legitimate legal issues and disagreements in some of the party’s state’s chapters.

The former Edo State Governor said this was evidence of the fact that the party was a free democratic one, while it was the responsibility of its leadership to help aggrieved members to find a common ground.

He added that the issues in the Benue chapter were not too fundamental that it could not be resolved.

He expressed confidence that the squabble between Senator Akume and the Governor would be resolved by the party’s national leadership.

Oshiomhole affirmed that Senator Akume is a respected leader of the party in Benue and would recognise the need for peace, adding that the APC leadership has what it takes to make peace.

“In Benue, we are going for a win-win solution. Gov. Ortom is not going anywhere. He is a very prominent member of our party, and we appreciate his leadership in the state.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that is hovering around must know that it is only people without honour that will vomit in the morning and convert it to launch in the afternoon.

“People like Ortom can’t leave PDP three and half years ago with his eyes open and because of some tension, is thinking of returning.

“He is a man of honour and he knows that once you move one step forward, you will want to take the second step to consolidate the first step, that’s the way to go.

“Be assured that the PDP can go and do whatever they want to do, but it won’t change the situation in the minds of those who are convinced in building the future,” he asserted.

Oshiomhole boasted that the APC had tools to solve its problems and assured it would deploy such tools in Benue to make Ortom, Akume and the people of the state not just APC members, but happy ones.

He equally assured that the party’s leadership would do everything possible to help those who had issues to have them resolved/NAN.