The Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has denied using thugs to manhandle Hon. Joseph Asawa, the immediate past Chairman of Ushongo local government area.
Ortom, in a statement by Nathaniel Ikyur, his Chief Press Secretary, said on Friday, said Asawa was trying to curry favour from the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar by maligning the governor, who is a member of the G-5.
Ortom said the former council chairman in his false outcries, arising from the incident during the flag-off of the Benue North West Senatorial campaign rally in Gboko claimed that “Atiku Abubakar supporters were targeted for assault and alleged that the Governor sponsored youths who allegedly manhandled him.”
The statement said, “this is false, misleading and a calculated attempt by the former Council Chairman to use the name of the Governor and win cheap sympathy from the Atiku Abubakar camp.
“Governor Ortom could not have condescended so low to direct his supporters to molest anyone at the Gboko rally as violence has never been part of his style of politics.
“Governor Ortom has never used thugs either during elections or at any other time and so does not patronise them, contrary to the claims by the former council chairman.
“From the outbursts of Hon Asawa, it is obvious that he wants to take advantage of the call for fairness and equity by the G-5 Governors which Governor Ortom is a member to be recognised by the camp of the presidential candidate of our party.”
Meanwhile, the Benue State All Progressives Congress (APC) accused Ortom of running errands for Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike at the expense of his constitutional responsibilities of providing governance to the people of the State.
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Austin Agada, who spoke to newsmen on the phone on Friday, said Ortom had reduced himself to an “errand boy” to his counterpart in Rivers State in the name of playing politics.
In his words, “He (Ortom) had long ago attached himself to Wike; this is responsible for his abysmal performance in the past seven years. He has abandoned governance which is the reason everything is in total decay. He is a disaster to Benue State, he has become an errand boy or may I call him deputy to Wike or an aide to Wike; that is the reason you always see him going around with Wike.
