‘Why Buhari Cannot Secure 10% Of Our Total Votes In Benue’ - Simply Entertainment Reports and Trending Stories

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Saturday, July 21, 2018

‘Why Buhari Cannot Secure 10% Of Our Total Votes In Benue’

Muhammadu Buhari


Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, has been in serious political dilemma in recent times and his subsequent announcement last week Monday receiving a red card from his party, the ruling APC'

In this article by the Vanguard, it  examines Ortom's situation and the probable scenarios that may play out.

Read as published by Vanguard Newspaper today, 21st of July, 2018.

Party branch at crossroads as Ortom controversy continues By Peter Duru, Makurdi Like a thunderbolt, Governor Samuel Ortom last Monday announced to the Benue public that his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, had issued him a “red card” ahead of the coming 2019 general elections.

The Governor’s pronunciation which literally meant that he has been booted out of the ruling party did not come to many as a surprise given the political power play that was witnessed in the state several weeks before that public declaration which was laced with inconceivable bravery.

Before the Governor’s pronouncement, it had been in public domain that he was in a running battle with some powerful forces in the presidency who had been piqued by his decision and dogged determination to ensure the full implementation and enforcement of the now popular Benue grazing law which came into effect last November 1.

The law which was a product of the collective wishes and decision of the Benue people to stem the mindless killings in the state arising from the unending farmers/herders crisis had pitched governor and the people of the state against these forces who may have found willing friends within the state to have the law repealed or watered to suit their purpose.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the unwavering stance of the governor to turn down the bidding of these forces against what he termed the uncharitable lashes from Senator George Akume, the leader of the party in the state, exposed him to what is now regarded as the battle for his political life.

Hence, before the pronouncement by the governor,   rumour mills had it that his party had already put machinery in motion to have him replaced as the party’s gubernatorial flag-bearer in the coming elections.

While this plot was gaining grounds, the party at its last state congress in Makurdi gave the governor some form of false sense of security by endorsing him as the sole governorship candidate of the party probably with the intent to embarrass him by pulling the carpet from under his feet at the zero hour.

But Ortom, being a quick-witted politician of close to 35 years in the game beat them to the plot. He pulled the political trigger by announcing to the Benue people the machinations of his persecutors.

On that fateful day, the Governor shortly after swearing in his new Special Adviser on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Makurdi, urged the people to jettison their political, tribal and religious differences and work for the sustainable growth and development of the state.

Continuing he said, “As for party, I have been given red card and I’m outside the pitch. So, if I have been given red card and I’m standing outside, I’m a free man.

“So I don’t know what will happen next but I’m waiting. If others approach me, then I will tell the Benue people that I’m joining another football club. I’m a child of destiny and it’s only God that will decide what I will be.”

From that date, the entire Benue political landscape was thrown into untold turmoil and the quack reverberated in all the political parties that have presence in the state with majority of them angling to have him berth at their dock.

The development has also left the state chapter of the APC in disarray with some of its state working committee members tendering their resignation from the party even as more are expected to follow suit.

Majority of the people of the state hailed the move of the governor, insisting that it was long overdue. Political pundits were also of the view that the decision was apt and timely given the people’s ill feelings toward the ruling party arising from the indifference of the bigwigs of the party to the renewed Benue pogrom that dates back to January 1, 2018 which has claimed over 500 lives.

The people were further angered by the seeming weak reaction to the bloodbath caused by herdsmen in the region. Of note to Benue people is that the APC led federal government, at different times, laid the blame for the massacres on Benue people.

Hence it would have amounted to a political suicide if the governor remained in the party or sought reelection on that platform because fillers from across the state indicated that the people feel the APC led federal government turned the other way while defenseless Benue people were mindlessly massacred daily by armed herdsmen because the government is dominated by people of Fulani extraction. That is the feeling in Benue.

While the people wait anxiously for further pronouncements from the governor on his next political move not but a few pundits are of the firm belief that the next few days would witness a huge alignment and realignment of political forces in a state where political consciousness and awareness is over 80 percent.
Continue at Vanguard website here:

Related Topics: #SamuelOrtom, #Buhari, #BenueKillings, #Politics

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