Samuel Ortom, the governor of Benue State, has reiterated his belief that the People’s Democratic Party’s national leadership is failing to capitalize on internal party conflicts in order to strengthen the party.
Ortom said this on Sunday, December 11, 2022, after a private meeting at the Benue Peoples House in Makurdi with Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State. Tambuwal came to see Ortom over the weekend to talk about the ongoing party problem.
The meeting, which was called at Governor Tambuwal’s request, according to Governor Ortom, covered a wide range of topics related to the internal disputes roiling the party.
Ortom was quoted as saying, “Governor Tambuwal is the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and currently the acting Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and the Director General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization,” in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Benue governor, Nathaniel Ikyur. He requested that we have this meeting.
“We have covered a wide range of topics, including the conflict within the PDP and my membership in the G-5. He’s primarily here to assess how our party can unite and cooperate.
“I told him that we were PDP members and that, as I always stated, the party’s leadership had been failing to capitalize on opportunities to strengthen the party ever since our national convention.”
He continued, “Regardless of how foolish they were, the party has not used its internal dispute resolution mechanism to examine the complaints that emerged as a result of the primaries.” Instead, it is haughtiness and a carefree demeanor. Even when we made it clear that things weren’t going well, nobody bothered to get in touch with us.
“From my perspective, I applaud Tambuwal for making the effort to come to me.” We talked about my suggestions for how I think this issue can be resolved, and I am certain that as a leader and the campaign’s director general, he will take the necessary action because I am not acting alone. Reaching out to others will be more effective than talking to me alone in order to fix the issue. “I think he’ll also make an effort to put the party together as it is,” he continued.
Governor Tambuwal, who is in charge of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, said that Governor Ortom, who is one of the PDP’s top leaders and a key player in the party’s business, was the subject of a productive conversation.
He said, “We have had time to talk and discuss what is going on in our party.” Right now, he is the party’s leader. He holds a key place in the affairs of our party when you consider his trajectory, political history, and current position.
I’ve stated it before, but party disputes within the party are common, and what we’ve been experiencing is political conflict rather than an attrition battle. Even inside our own families, we occasionally have arguments, and when we do, our relationships and our ability to work together are strengthened.
Therefore, it is still being worked on. We have made it clear time and time again that we want to unite everyone behind this party, and that is the goal behind my presence in Makurdi.
“He (Ortom) is one of the principals on the issues we’re dealing with, and I had a very useful conversation with him,” Tambuwal added.”I will of course engage with the rest of our colleagues and other leaders and see how best we can come back together as one family and work toward ensuring that the PDP comes out stronger and wins the elections of 2023 convincingly.”
Governor Tambuwal was joined on the visit to Governor Ortom by Dr. Gabriel Suswam, a former governor of Benue State and senator for Benue North-East.
