Benue state governor Samuel Ortom has said the immediate past chairman of Ushongo local government, Joseph Asawa, was “seeking attention and cheap sympathy with lies.”
Asawa, in a now-viral statement on social media and a press conference said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar’s supporters were targeted for assault by youths allegedly sponsored by the governor.
Ortom, in a statement by his chief press secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, on Friday described the statement as “false outcries.”
“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.
“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 of which Governor Ortom is a member to be recognised by the camp of the presidential candidate of our party.
“We, therefore, urge the general public to discountenance the claims of the former Ushongo chairman that the thugs who allegedly manhandled him during the campaign rally were sent by the governor,” the statement read in part.
