Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, has asked the
presidency to focus on ending the killings of innocent Nigerians, instead of
attacking him.
The governor made this known in a statement issued by Terver
Akase, his chief press secretary, on Thursday.
The presidency and Ortom have been at loggerheads in the
past few days.
The governor had in a recent interview accused President
Muhammadu Buhari of trying to “Fulanise” the country, while reacting to the
president’s approval of the recommendations of a committee to review 368 grazing
reserves across 25 states in the country.
Responding to Ortom’s comment, the presidency accused the
Benue governor of “using language reminiscent of the Rwandan genocide” to cause
the deaths of Nigerians.
In reaction, Ortom said he spoke the minds of many Nigerians
on the “specific areas of failure of the presidency and its complicity in the
heinous crimes committed against citizens by armed Fulani herdsmen and other
terrorists”.
Ortom insisted that he stands by his comment and won’t keep
quiet.
”We read the statement released by the Presidency in
response to Governor Samuel Ortom’s recent interview on Channels Television in
which he raised a number of concerns bordering on the worsening security
situation across the country.
”To describe as ‘undistinguished’, the career of a man who
has held many key positions at the state and national levels proves that those
who penned the piece were under the influence of some negative substances.
“The governor spoke the minds of most Nigerians on specific
areas of failure of the Presidency and its complicity in the heinous crimes
committed against citizens by armed Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists,” the
statement reads.
“Instead of taking the Governor on those points, Shehu went
chasing vain and mundane matters in a desperate attempt to malign the Governor.
“We demand an apology from the presidency for accusing
governor Ortom of stirring ethnic tensions and calling for genocide. The
presidency has never hidden its hatred for the governor and its latest outing
only confirms that fact.
“We are aware of the presidency’s plot to cause crisis in
Benue and make the state ungovernable and declare a state of emergency.
Whenever each of their plans fails as it happened with the impeachment attempt
on the governor before the 2019 elections, they resort to cheap blackmail.
“They accuse governor
Ortom of making a law to chase Fulanis out of Benue; a claim that lacks
substance and only goes to prove that they have not read the Open Grazing
Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of the state. They can’t justify
their narrative that Governor Ortom hates Fulanis when some of his appointees
are Fulani.
“We advise the Presidency to focus on ending the killing of
innocent Nigerians, fix the economy as it promised and stop the stinking
corruption under their watch.
“They can’t run away from their responsibility. They were
brought to power to serve the country not to oppress the people and suppress
their freedom of speech.
“They are on record to have publicly promised during their
campaigns before the 2015 elections that they would respect the rights and
freedoms of Nigerians if elected. Sadly, what the people of this country have
got from the current government is the opposite of that promise.”
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