The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday said it has welcomed Benue State Governor, Dr Samuel Ortom, back to its fold and urged other former members of the party that are still in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to retrace their steps and come back.
The opposition party hailed Ortom for showing what it called “patriotic courage and boldness in these times of brazen dictatorship.”
Governor Ortom announced his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP on Wednesday.
He made the announcement at a meeting with elected local government chairmen and councillors at the Government House Makurdi.
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 are from Benue.
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.
Also read: https://www.thenicheng.com/breaking-benue-governor-ortom-defects-to-pdp/
PDP in a statement on Wednesday said the governor’s return confirmed “the fact that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and the All Progressives Congress (APC) do not have the welfare of Nigerians at heart, as they have continually offered flimsy excuses over the mindless killings that have caused untold sorrows across the country, particularly, Benue State.”
“PDP recalls that the Buhari-led federal government has failed in its basic responsibility of protecting lives, property and territorial integrity of our nation.
“Painfully, Nigerians are being slaughtered in Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto, nearly on daily basis.
“The party also recalls how the APC-led Buhari administration, would rather plead for the accommodation of persons who have repeatedly been fingered as being responsible for the heinous killings in the Benue valley rather than take decisive and concrete actions to preserve lives of Nigerians.
“The PDP however hails the Governor for standing firm by the people of Benue State and refusing to mortgage their welfare to a government that has consistently demonstrated cluelessness.
“We urge the governor to be rest assured that he will be accorded his dues and rights as a member of the PDP.
“The return of Governor Ortom to our party, which is a reflection of his people’s desires, further confirms the rejection of the Buhari-led APC administration by Nigerians.
“It also buttresses the fact that PDP remains the viable platform for all Nigerians that are desirous of rescuing our nation from the gross misgovernance and authoritarianism exhibited by the APC-led administration.”
