Former Governor of Benue State,
Samuel Ortom has said that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the
2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar is angry because he was rejected by
him and the G5- governors.
Ortom was reacting to a statement
made by Atiku through his media aide, Phrank Shaibu accusing him and other G-5
members of seeking appointment and protection from prosecution from the Federal
Government.
Ortom said that the presidential
candidate should be worried about why the G-5 and other members of the
integrity group rejected his candidacy.
Atiku had described the former
Benue governor as one of the worst governors in the history of Nigeria saying
his case file at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is bulky.
But responding, Ortom reiterated
the stand of the G-5 and said that the group stood for justice, equity, and
fairness and that the 2023 presidency must go to the southern part of the
country and Nigerians saw the indisputable facts contained in the position of
the Integrity Group and voted for a presidential candidate from the south.
The statement read in parts,
“Atiku is angry because Governor Ortom and his colleagues in the G-5 refused to
be used by him as ‘Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)’ to circumvent and thwart
the resolve of Nigerians to produce a President from the southern region.
“Another reason for Atiku’s attack on Chief
Ortom is the former Benue State Governor’s boldness to speak truth to his face
and rebuke him for making unstatesmanlike comments regarding the killing of
Benue people by Fulani herdsmen. Atiku is on record to have expressed
bitterness towards Ortom for daring to enact a law to prohibit open grazing of
livestock in the state.
“The former Vice President’s
diatribe against Chief Ortom can therefore be understood as the manifestation
of frustration for losing the 2023 election. His failure to humble himself and
unite the PDP, opting to remain haughty even when the signals were clear that
he was heading for defeat summarized his performance in the last election.
“Atiku lacks the moral ground to
accuse anyone else of corruption. The words of his erstwhile principal, the
former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who described him as a very corrupt
man have remained indelible and incontrovertible. Chief Obasanjo, in his book,
‘My Watch’ states on pages 191-192 thus:
“Atiku Abubakar’s name was among
the names sent to us. Up to that time, EFCC had enjoyed close cooperation and
collaboration with law enforcement agencies in the UK and the USA. I gave the
green light to Nuhu for the investigation as requested by the authorities and
forwarded his report to the USA. The report was uncomfortable and unsavoury
about Atiku and his associates. I thought it was bad enough that the Vice
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was under investigation for
corruption when my Administration had made fighting corruption one of its
cardinal objectives. As it turned out, the investigation in Nigeria and in the
US led to Atiku’s house being searched by the US Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
It was so embarrassing for our Administration and Embassy in Washington…”
Ortom admitted that he honoured
the invitation of the anti-graft agency saying, “The role of anti-graft
agencies was to investigate allegations of corruption. Whenever they invite
someone, such a person has to honour the invitation. As a man who believes in
the rule of law, Chief Ortom willingly visited EFCC when the Commission sought
clarifications on the actions of his administration.”
The former governor urged
Nigerians to disregard the allegation by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar against him
describing it as unfounded and tantamount to cheap blackmail.
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