Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has announced his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
His spokesperson, Terver Akase, confirmed the move on Wednesday.
“Yes, he has defected from APC to PDP,” Mr Akase said.
Mr Ortom earlier made the announcement at a meeting with elected local government chairmen and councillors on Wednesday at the Government House Makurdi, Channels Television reported.
Mr Ortom’s defection comes barely a day after the Benue State House of Assembly impeached its APC Speaker, Terkimbi Tyanger.
Also, on Tuesday, scores of APC federal lawmakers dumped the party, with a substantial majority moving to the PDP. Some of the lawmakers were from Benue.
Mr Ortom has been hinting at his imminent departure from the ruling party for the past four weeks. He was amongst at least three APC governors rumored to be on their way out of the party, with the other two being Abdulfattah Ahmed of Kwara and Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto.
TheNiche in an exclusive report earlier today said Tambuwal will defect on Thursday.
See report https://www.thenicheng.com/exclusive-tambuwal-dumps-apc-returns-to-pdp-thursday/
The governor joined the APC from the PDP ahead the 2015 elections. He served as Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment during the Jonathan administration.
Mr Ortom was earlier a member of the defunct All People’s Party (APP) before joining the PDP.
He served as the director of operations of the PDP gubernatorial campaign in Benue State in 2007, and later as director of administration and logistics of the Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organization in 2011.
He is also a former national auditor of the PDP.
