Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, says the All Progressives
Congress (APC) has performed “abysmally” in the past seven years.
The governor said Nigerians need to have a “viable
alternative to the APC, especially after the dismal and abysmal performance of
the party over the past seven years”.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday by Nathaniel
Ikyur, chief press secretary to Ortom, the governor said the APC will lose the
2023 election if it is bereft of interference from state actors.
“They’ve (APC) kept their promise to take Nigeria from top
to bottom. They have taken our country beneath the bottom. It’s a big shame.
For us in the PDP, the onus rests on us to mend the cracks in our party. No
external influence will do that for us. By the grace of God, we will reach a
successful end so that we can move on,” he said.
“So long as the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is as professional and neutral
as it was in Osun and Ekiti states, I don’t see the APC winning the elections.
“Having been in politics from the grassroots, the state and
national levels for over 40 years now, there’s no magic the APC can conjure to
win in 2023.
“Some of their leaders who think they are powerful, have
indirectly visited wickedness on the generality of our people in the name of
being close to Aso Rock.”
Ortom said the APC is losing members across the country,
noting that “with the kind of political traffic we are witnessing across the
country from the APC to PDP, there is general disenchantment with the APC”.
“It’s all over, Cross River, Rivers, everywhere. The APC
government has unwittingly precipitated a huge lacuna, a very big gap, complete
disconnect, with the people,” he added.
The Benue governor alleged that some members of the APC
prevailed over the federal government not to release funds to his state to pay
salaries and pensions.
“We applied for a bailout of N42 billion from the federal
government to enable us to offset long-standing arrears of salaries, pensions
and gratuities. Some of these people scrambled to the state house to tell the
president not to release the funds even after approval, so that we will not
take the credit for solving the age-long problem. This is the kind of
mean-spirited attitude APC is inflicting on our people,” he said.
“I said it before. It
is now almost two years since I last saw the president. If I had access to him,
I would prefer a one-on-one exchange with him. Since that is not possible, I go
to the press. I must talk, I must express myself, I’m holding this office in
trust for several million people of Benue state, I’m not here on my own
volition. Unfortunately, those who are expected to burnish the image of their
party and the President, have chosen to be antagonists of their people. We will
see how things evolve.
“The moment the doctor has been able to ascertain the crux
of an ailment afflicting his patient by physical and laboratory investigations,
the problem is substantially resolved. The patient is on the path to
convalescence after necessary treatment and guidance. We will sort ourselves
out in PDP, to the shame of our detractors.”
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