Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, has clarified his
comment on citizens “drinking beer” and sleeping all day.
In a statement on Saturday, Nathaniel Ikyur, chief press
secretary to the governor, said the comment was directed at members of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue.
The governor was said to have made the remark on Friday when
commissioning the new building of RCN Embassy Church in Makurdi, Benue state
capital.
Reacting to the backlash that trailed the utterance, the
governor’s chief press secretary said he was speaking to “a few” persons who
“have conditioned their minds to malign him”.
“We wish to state
categorically that the news, especially the caption is a completely mischievous
misrepresentation and an attempt to ridicule the person of the governor,” the
statement reads.
“The Governor was clear that most Benue people know and do
appreciate the great developmental strides he is doing for them. He regretted
that some of those who insult, blackmail, or castigate him unnecessarily,
specifically are a few and from the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC
who sit in beer parlours for long hours and have conditioned their minds to
malign him no matter how much he has done.
“He was clear how these APC supporters do that without
cogent or issue-based criticisms but simply out of mischief. He was also clear
that critics of his administration should offer constructive criticisms as he
does to the federal government.
“At that function in
question, which was the Dedication and Inaugural Service of RCN Embassy Church,
Makurdi, Governor Ortom specifically asked the people of Benue State and indeed
Nigerians to continue to pray for him and other leaders including President
Muhammadu Buhari rather than always criticising him. He quoted from the Bible
where the scriptures asked Christians to pray for their leaders and all those
in authority.”
The statement added that Ortom acknowledges how the people
of Benue, in 2015 and 2019, displayed their love for him by electing him
governor twice.
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