By Olusegun Olanrewaju
In what seems a big blow, Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, yesterday said he would rather die than support the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Also yesterday, matters appeared to have been more complicated as the governor honoured five governors opposed to Atiku’s presidential bid, and named a street after Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in a street where the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, has a residence.
Without mincing words, Ortom declared that he would never support Atiku’s ambition in the forthcoming general election slated for next year.
Ortom’s anger was predicated on his claim that suspected Fulani herdsmen had been killing the Benue people.
The governor was speaking on Sunday night when he hosted five governors (G5); Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu) at the Government House, Makurdi.
The five governors were in the state ahead of the flag-off of PDP election campaigns for the 2023 general election, in addition to the commissioning of some initiatives completed by Ortom in Makurdi.
Ortom, who lamented the killing of 18 people in his Local Government Area last week, said, “To hell with Atiku and anyone supporting him. They should go and tell him. You want me to be a slave for a Fulani. It is better I die. Anybody supporting Atiku is an enemy of Benue.
“My people are being killed and you want me to be quiet. My tenure ends in May, and you can do whatever you want if you think you have the powers. I have written my will. When I gave it to my wife, she cried all night.
“If I die at 62, many of my mates passed away a long time ago. If I die today, I’m a fulfilled person, but let it be recorded that I died resisting the invasion and killing of my people.”
Ortom added, “I will never support a Fulani man to become President. If there is another person who is ready to work with me and ensure the security of my people, I will work with him,” Ortom said.
•Names street after Wike where Ayu has residence
Yesterday, Ortom took a further step to wound the Atiku camp by naming a road leading to the house of Ayu as Governor Nyesom Wike Road.
The road, which is behind the Commissioner’s Quarters in Makurdi, and which leads to Ayu’s house, was inaugurated by a former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam.
Five governors of the PDP known as G5 on Monday stormed Makurdi, the Benue State capital, for the commissioning ceremony of some projects completed by Ortom.
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The five governors have been consistent in their demand that Iyorchia Ayu steps down as PDP national chairman, saying northerners should not be the PDP national chairman and presidential candidate.
Before the inauguration, the G5 took time to address PDP supporters at a rally organised to drum support for all PDP candidates in Benue State, including the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly and PDP governorship candidate in the state, Titus Uba.
At the campaign, Wike said the PDP G5 are bonded to save Nigeria and nobody can break their ranks in their continued insistence that Ayu should resign as the national chairman of the party.
“People have tried to see how they can break us, you cannot. We are bonded to save Nigeria. That is why when you see all of us, we are impenetrable. Nobody can divide us. They have tried everything in this world to divide us, but no way.
“The way we operate; I will talk, we have people who don’t talk. You may be underrating them. By the time they will shock you, you will think it is Wike, it is not Wike you are seeing,” he said.
However, Ayu, an indigene of Benue State, has insisted that he won’t step down till the end of his four-year tenure, even as the G5 makes his resignation a precondition to support Adamawa-born Atiku Abubakar’s 2023 presidential ambition.
The governor’s comment came as he was honoured with four other governors in the PDP (5G) who are insisting on the ouster of the party’s national chair, Iyorchia Ayu, for peace to reign as the 2023 general election draws near.
Wike also said nobody could break the ranks of the five governors because they have remained dogged by their demands.
According to Wike, people have made several efforts to break their ranks but cannot succeed.
The Rivers State governor spoke at the new Banquet Hall of Benue State Government House, Makurdi, during a dinner on Sunday night organised in honour of the G5 by Governor Ortom.
Those efforts are failing, governor Wike asserted, because the five governors are bonded to save Nigeria.
“And if you look at us here, the way we are, people have tried to see how they can break us, you cannot. We are bonded to save Nigeria. That is why when you see all of us, we are impenetrable. Nobody can divide us. They have tried everything in this world to divide us, but no way.
“The way we operate; I will talk, we have people who don’t talk. You may be underrating them. By the time they will shock you, you will think it is Wike, it is not Wike you are seeing.”
It was an evening of display of the rich culture of the Benue people in which Ortom proclaimed, and bestowed honorary citizenship status on Wike of the five governors.
Wike said Nigerians are expecting the PDP to rescue the country, but it appeared that the leadership of the party was not showing serious commitment to that course.
He stated that inclusivity remains a precursor for peace and unity because it will allow everybody to have an equal sense of stake both in the party and to work together for the desired electoral victory.
“Agreement is agreement. Respect agreement, so that there will be peace, there will be unity. What we are asking for is inclusivity; include everybody,” he said.
He added, “I thank all of you for this honour you’ve done to all of us, the integrity governors. The governors who can come up and tell you black is black, yes is yes. We don’t bend, we say it as it is.
Meanwhile, the five governors have commissioned some roads and electricity projects executed by the Ortom administration in Benue State.
The projects commissioned yesterday in Makurdi town and its environs include the 9.4 km Tse-Poor Apir Road (renamed Ayua Num Road) executed at the cost of N1.2bn and the 7.7km Yaikyo-Tse Poor Road, now Chief Sule Abenga Road at the construction cost of N1.4bn.
Others were the 2km George Akume-NKST Yina Road now renamed Senator JKN Waku Road, built at the cost of N560.4m, as well as the 2.1km Kaanga-Akaya-Lucy Aluor-Otukpo Road renamed Nyesom Wike Road, constructed at the cost N809.088m.
Also commissioned was the 1.3km Low-Cost Housing Estate-Bambam Road, now named after the late Chief JC Obande Road, executed at the cost of N379.39m.
