Confusion as Benue PDP suspends Ortom, faction sanctions chairman
By Jeffrey Agbo
Benue State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has suspended former governor Samuel Ortom over alleged anti-party activities.
Benue PDP secretary, Joseph Nyam, in a statement on Monday, alleged that Ortom masterminded the disruption of a ward congress organised by the party.
“During the Ward Congresses held on the 27th July, 2024 at the 276 Ward headquarters, you led and abated the snatching of election materials at your various local governments, resulting in the non-conduct of the congresses at Buruku, Gboko, Ushongo, Guma, Tarka, Rwande, and Ohimini local government areas,” the statement reads.
“These acts constitute anti-party activities. Consequent upon the above, you are suspended for one month in the first instance and recommended to the State Disciplinary Committee for further adjudication.”
The former Benue governor was suspended alongside three others, including Isaacs Mffo, Azua Ashongo, and Bemgba Iortyom.
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Meanwhile, a faction of the PDP in Benue State also announced the suspension of its chairman, John Ngbede; secretary, Joseph Nyam, and the organising secretary, Moses Audu, for alleged forgery.
Benue PDP Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, said Ngbede, Nyam and Audu would remain suspended for one month.
The party accused Ngbede and others of “forging and impersonating the State Working Committee to achieve their individual aims, instigating violence and crisis during the just concluded ward congresses of the party, and mismanagement of the finances of the party, among other things.”
According to the statement, the decision to suspend them was taken at the SWC meeting of last Saturday, attended by nine out of the 13 members.
“The state Deputy Chairman, Isaac Mffo, is now the state Chairman of the PDP in Benue State in an acting capacity,” the statement said.
But Ngbede, in a swift reaction, dismissed both the allegation and his suspension as illegal and questioned why Ortom would host the meeting where the purported suspension was decided.