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Ortom accuses Ayu of smear campaign, as PDP kicks off presidential campaign

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Samuel Ortom

The friction within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rages as the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has accused the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu of a smear campaign.

Ortom made this assertion on Sunday, when he appeared before the kinsmen of the embattled National Chairman who are members of the PDP, known as the Jemgbagh PDP Elders Forum comprising leaders from Gboko, Tarka and Buruku Local Government Areas, LGAs.

He stated that Ayu’s smear campaign was in response to the agitation for his resignation after the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate.

The meeting was requested by the Elders who wished to clarify the cold war between the Governor and Dr. Ayu following calls by the G-5 Governors led by the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and other notable leaders of the party that the National Chairman should resign, according to a statement released in Makurdi by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Nathaniel Ikyur.

The Governor refuted claims that he was toppling a Jemgbagh son by detailing the events that led to the current crisis and highlighting how, against all the odds, he managed to mobilize support for Senator Ayu’s election.

He claimed that because of his support for justice and fairness and his call for Dr. Ayu, who is from the same senatorial zone as him, to retire, he was being threatened and blackmailed because of his desire to become a senator.

Governor Ortom said that due to the internal crises roiling the party with Dr. Ayu at the helm, some Jemgbagh stakeholders had started to intimidate and blackmail him since he was running for the Benue North-West Senatorial district seat.

Read also:Ortom denies abandoning Wike, urges quick resolution of PDP crisis

“Power is given by God and no one should blackmail me because of my senatorial ambition. Nobody should think he will intimidate me because of the senate election. If God ordains me to be elected Senator for the Benue North-West Senatorial zone, no amount of blackmail or intimidation can prevent me from winning,” Ortom disclosed.

He claimed that after the PDP Presidential convention, internal disputes began to surface. Consequently, he had advised Dr. Ayu to approach the party’s disgruntled leaders and ask them to be understanding over calls for his resignation.

The Governor claimed that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s nominee for president, was not handled with impartiality by the National Chairman in the events leading up to the convention.

He stressed that “Ayu himself committed to resigning should a northern presidential candidate emerge at the northern caucus of the party at the Bauchi State lodge.”

The Governor insisted that despite the betrayals, intimidation, and blackmail, he would continue to fight for justice for his people and instructed the Jemgbagh stakeholders to invite both Senator Ayu and himself to a meeting so that they could both explain their viewpoints on the topic.

This is coming even as the party stakeholders are in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital to kick off the presidential campaign of Atiku. And it’s speculated that Ortom, and others in the Wike group may not turn up for the event.

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