Peter Obi’s reckless defence of Gov Ortom

Recently, the presidential candidate of Labour Party and former Governor of Anambra state, Mr Peter Obi, was quoted as saying that Nigerians shouldn’t blame Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state for not paying workers’ salaries and pension.

According to Obi, as reported in the media, Governor Ortom spent millions of naira monthly to run the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps across the state and that becomes the justification about Ortom’s inability to pay salaries and pension.

I hail from Benue state and I know Governor Ortom better than Obi does and I should be the one to tell Obi or any other person outside the state the reason the governor has not been paying salaries and pension. The reason given by Peter Obi is not true and I am surprised that Obi can come up with such a lie to defend and justify the excesses of Governor Ortom unnecessarily.

If Peter Obi thinks defending Ortom will make the people of Benue state vote him in 2023 presidential race, then, he is making a big mistake because majority in Benue state people are going to hate him for that careless and unnecessary defence of Governor Ortom.

Governor Ortom may win the hearts of many Nigerians for always confronting the President Muhammadu Buhari administration since many Nigerians seem to be disappointed with the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and its leadership but in Benue state, the majority are not happy with the governor and we all know his tricks and know him as a green snake in a green grass. So, we don’t need Peter Obi or any other person outside the state to tell us why Governor Ortom is not paying salaries and pension.

Peter Obi should note that in Governor Ortom’s first tenure, he borrowed over N20 billion, before he received over N28 billion bailout funds from the federal government to help clear the outstanding salaries of workers and pension in the state. Yet, the funds in question were embezzled and the purpose for their release was defeated.

Still in the first tenure of Governor Ortom, he was always going to China on the claim of getting the Chinese to come to Benue state and establish companies to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth. All the funds spent during the visits to China could not produce the needed result.

How many companies do we have in Benue state that have been established by the Chinese to create jobs for our people? Is there even any company established under the leadership of Governor Ortom to create jobs for the unemployed youth in the state? The answer is no and I stand to be corrected.

Coming to the second tenure of Governor Ortom, he left APC to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and claimed that his people in Benue are being killed by Fulani herdsmen and that the APC and the federal government under the leadership of President Buhari who is a Fulani man were not doing anything about it. For that, he won’t be in the party and the government that has refused to help his people. But that was another lie.

Ortom left APC to PDP because his then political godfather, Senator George Akume who was the governor of the state for eight years, a senator for 12 years and now Minister for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, wanted to give APC governorship ticket to one Honourable Emmanuel Jime, who was denied the same ticket in 2015 in favour of Governor Ortom that left PDP when the then Governor Gabriel Suswam went for Terhemen Tarzoor as his favourite to give him PDP governorship ticket while Ortom was as well in the same party and interested in the ticket.

I stand to be challenged that if the then godfather to Ortom was willing to give him APC governorship ticket to contest again, Ortom wouldn’t have left APC to PDP.

I was in the media campaign team of the late Professor David Ker, one of the PDP governorship aspirants in the state and I was aware of everything that happened.

The people of Benue state are already aware of the kind of person they have as governor. Peter Obi and others that don’t know should better keep quiet and not to say something that would add pains to the injuries inflicted upon the people by Governor Ortom.

Since the arrival of Ortom as the governor of Benue state, the state owned institutions are dying slowly while his Oracle Farm business and other businesses belonging to him are experiencing progress on daily basis. Yet, Peter Obi is defending him for being corrupt, careless about the plight of his people.

Ortom’s constant attacks on the federal government and President Buhari with words of mouth about the insecurity in his state and the country in general, centre on his plan to gain favour and succeed more in his political pursuit but many Nigerians are not aware of this.

Ortom uses the attacks on the people in Benue state by the herdsmen as justification for his failure to execute projects in the state, he uses same as the reason for his inability to pay salaries and pension. Yet, those who are working in Governor Ortom’s Oracle Farm and other businesses belonging to him, get their salaries as at when due.

In one of the interviews, he even alleged that his inability to perform in bed was due to the attacks on his people in the state and the increment in the number of IDP camps in the state. In the same interview, he alleged that anytime he is on top of his wife, his manhood goes flat after remembering those in IDP camps, to further show his fake care and love for the people.

Now, more people are dying in Benue state after the inauguration of state guards by the governor. The guards go after cattle, capture them and ask for ramson. After paying the ramson as requested, they release few to the owners and not all that were captured.

In retaliation, the Fulani herdsmen would go to the areas where their cattle were captured and massacre innocent people. This is happening in Katsina-Ala and other places in Benue state.

The guards are there, kidnapping cows for ramson to enrich themselves, causing more massacres but doing nothing to protect lives and property of the people they were recruited to watch over. What a shame!

Peter Obi should apologise and withdraw that unnecessary and careless defence he made to favour Governor Ortom against the people in the state and henceforth, discontinue from doing a similar thing as the majority of the people in Benue state won’t take it lightly.

Awunah Pius Terwase,
human rights’activist,
Mpape, Abuja.